Summer of Adventure
by Cat'sLibrary
Summary: (AU of Adventure adding Jun and a blind Daisuke to the original group). Jun didn't even want to go to summer camp. The only reason she did was because Daisuke really wanted to. She was expecting to spend her summer bored. She was not expecting herself, her little brother, and seven other children to be sucked into a wondrous but dangerous place called the Digital World.
1. The Journey of a Lifetime Begins

**Disclaimer: I do not own digimon. I feel like that's kind of a given.**

 **This story is an AU of Digimon Adventure. The major changes are the additions of Daisuke and Jun to the original children, Daisuke being born blind, and the Motomiyas being a single parent family.**

 **Please note that while writing this I am referencing both the original subbed and the American dub, but am mostly following the sub. As such I have chosen to use the Japanese names and terminology with a few exceptions (Example: I've chosen to use digivolve instead of evolve and the dub's digivolution levels). I am also including Japanese honorifics. While I have done research to try and ensure that I use them correctly there is still the chance that I will make the occasional mistake for which I apologize in advance. If you are not familiar with any of the Japanese terms used there is a key at the bottom of the chapter with explanations.**

 **That's all I really have to say. I hope you enjoy! :D**

CHAPTER 1: The Journey of a Lifetime Begins

"Are you serious?" Jun Motomiya asked holding her cell phone to her right ear. She pushed off her desk so that her chair spun around as she listened to Momoe Inoue's response. "What did you say to him?"

"Jun-neechan!" her little brother Daisuke called.

"Seriously?" Jun spoke into the phone. "No!" she gasped, grabbing onto her desk to stop her spinning. "That's awful," the twelve year old giggled right before her bedroom door was thrown open. She winced when the door hit her wall and one of the photos – a picture of her and her father – hanging on the wall shook.

"Nee-chan! It's time to go," Daisuke stated. The little boy stood in the doorway with a large grin on his face. Tamotsu, his guide dog, stood by his side tongue lolling out of his mouth in his own doggy grin.

"Daisuke! What have I said about knocking?" Jun demanded.

"Camp, camp, camp," the eight year old chanted as he bounced towards his older sister. Tamotsu nudged him so that he did not run into Jun's suitcase.

"I've got to go, Momoe," Jun sighed before hanging up.

"Summer camp, Jun-nee," Daisuke said voice dreamy as he collapsed, _swooned_ , onto her lap. Jun rolled her eyes at his antics.

"We don't have to be at the school for almost an hour and it's barely a fifteen minute walk," she poked the little boy as she spoke, trying to get him to move, but he just giggled and made himself comfortable.

"But we want to get there early so we can get good seats," he stated.

"What good seats? It's an old school bus, Daisuke, not a limo," she huffed. Tamotsu laid his broad head on Daisuke's legs, tail thumping when the little boy started to pet him.

"Seats together so we can sit with our friends, duh," Daisuke giggled.

'What friends?'Jun bit back the hurtful and untrue response before it left her tongue. She looked down at Tamotsu, meeting the yellow Labrador Retriever's expressive brown eyes. She sighed and started petting him like her little brother was. It was true that none of her really close friends would be attending the camp. They were all either too busy or deemed the summer camp sanctioned by the elementary school too juvenile for junior high students even if they were invited to attend as well.

Still there would be plenty of people she knew there, probably even a handful of other junior high students. Daisuke was the one who would be surrounded mostly by strangers since he did not attend Odaiba Elementary School and could count the kids he did know who would be at the summer camp on one hand, but he still _really_ wanted to go and that was the only reason Jun was going at all since their mother's condition for letting Daisuke attend the camp was that she had to also.

The main reason the little boy wanted to go was that his best friend Hikari Yagami – The Yagamis were their neighbors and close friends of the family – was supposed to attend the camp along with her older brother Taichi, but Hikari had come down with a rather bad cold a couple weeks ago – Daisuke had gotten Jun to help him make the little girl a get well soon card. The blind boy had told her what to write and other little details he wanted on the card. 'Oh, draw a kitty! Hikari-chan loves kitties!'His other contribution had been drowning the card in so much glitter it was difficult to make out Jun's writing or the cat she had drawn – and even though Hikari was doing a lot better her parents were still not letting her go to camp.

Jun had hoped that when it became clear that Hikari would be unable to attend that Daisuke would change his mind about going. Instead the boy had promised Hikari to have twice as much fun – enough for the both of them! – and to tell her all about it when he got home. Despite his promise Jun had the sinking suspicion that he would be horribly homesick within a couple days. Jun knew that she had been when she went to summer camp for the first time when she was around his age.

"Jun, Daisuke, what are you doing sitting around?" their mother Akemi asked as she came to stand in the doorway. She was wearing her favorite dress. A pale green sundress she had sewed a couple years ago. Her red hair was draped over her left shoulder in a loose ponytail. "We need to get going. Everything packed?" she asked, grabbing Jun's suitcase and sitting it up.

"Yes," Jun glanced at her clock. "It's only 9:15. We don't have to be there till ten," she pointed out. Then it was an hour and a half drive to the campsite. Fun.

"I know, but I want to speak with Fujiyama-sensei again before you two leave," Akemi replied. She had been speaking with the people who were going to be running the camp a lot over the last several months to make sure that her children would be well taken care of.

"Daisuke and I are going to be fine and if something does happen the camp will be well prepared to take care of it. You've made sure of that," Jun reassured.

"I know. I just want to be extra sure," Akemi stated. "Get Tamotsu in his harness," she instructed, laying a hand on Daisuke's shoulder.

"On it, Kaa-chan," the eight year old nudged the Lab's head off his legs and hopped off Jun's lap. "Come on, Tsu-chan, we're going to camp!" boy and dog left the room.

Jun stood up and stretched. She slipped her cell phone into the pocket of her pleated skirt and grabbed her brown leather backpack off her bed and pulled the straps onto her shoulders. Akemi rolled Jun's suitcase out of the twelve year old's bedroom and together they walked to the living room. Daisuke's suitcase was already out there with his blue backpack sitting on top of it. The boy himself was sitting in the doorway of the hall that led to the front door tongue poking out of the corner of his mouth as he finished strapping on Tamotsu's harness.

"You two got everything? Enough clothes, you remembered to put in your swimsuits right, and jackets too just in case it gets cold?" Akemi fretted. She picked up a pair of glasses with tented lenses off the coffee table. "Dai-chan, your glasses," she said as she handed them to the little boy.

"You helped Daisuke pack. The only reason he'd forget anything would be if you forgot something," Jun pointed out. Akemi stopped walking and started muttering as she ticked things off on her fingers.

"I don't think I did," she stated after a minute.

"I'm sure he's got everything; in fact, I think he might be a little over packed," Jun reassured.

"...Maybe," Akemi mused. "You remembered to pack the first-aid kit like I asked, right?" she asked Jun as she picked up Daisuke's backpack and handed it to her son. "Go put your shoes on, dear."

"In my bag," Jun nodded. Her little brother ran towards the front door with Tamotsu.

"And you've got your phone? I don't know how great the reception will be, but you'll still try and call me once a day?" Akemi spoke, grabbing Daisuke's suitcase and rolling it towards the door.

"If the reception's too bad I'll ask Fujiyama-sensei to use a land-line," Jun recited – they had been over this dozens of times – rolling her own suitcase as she walked behind her mother.

Jun pulled on her brown boots just as Daisuke finished lacing up his orange Converse. He opened the door and bounced out of the apartment. "Let's go! Let's go!" he exclaimed.

"Patience, my love," Akemi laughed as she stepped into her floral Toms.

"Think Taichi-nii's ready? He could walk with us," Daisuke asked.

"He's probably scrambling to get packed," Jun snorted as she left their apartment.

She wrinkled her nose at the change in temperature. It was a rather warm day. Jun wondered if maybe her long-sleeved, purple button-up was too heavy even if it was made of a very light material. Deciding that changing was not worth the hassle she started walking towards the elevator. Daisuke, holding onto the handle of Tamotsu's harness, ran past her, shoes slapping against the concrete. "Best he get some of that energy out before you get on the bus," Akemi commented.

Tamotsu slowed their pace to a trot, a walk, and then a stand still in front of the sleek doors of the elevator. Daisuke reached forward. Placing his hand on the wall he felt around till he found the down button. He smiled when he heard the ding and swoosh as the elevator arrived and the doors slid open. He was going to bound immediately into the elevator, but Tamotsu sitting down warned him that it was not clear to do so. "Daisuke-kun, heading off on an adventure?" he easily recognized the voice of the kind old lady who lived in the first apartment on their floor. She baked really good cookies and would always let Daisuke have a couple whenever she made any.

"Me and Jun-neechan are going to camp, Yoshida-baachan," he beamed.

"Well isn't that exciting?" her voice was warm and Daisuke imagined she was smiling.

"It sure is!" he exclaimed, bouncing on his toes. The eight year old heard the footsteps and roll of the suitcases as his mother and sister caught up to him and Tamotsu.

"Such a bright boy you have, Akemi-san," Yoshida chuckled as she exited the elevator.

"He's something alright," Akemi smiled.

"I hope you enjoy your trip, Jun-chan," she paused in digging through her purse for her keys to meet Jun's eyes as she spoke.

"I will, Yoshida-baasan," Jun made the empty promise hoping that her smile was convincing. She was pretty sure that this was going to feel like the longest summer she ever had in the worst way possible, but she was not going to say that to the kindly old woman.

Jun got on the elevator with the rest of her family and pressed the button for the lobby. She inspected the dark purple polish on her nails as her mother kept fretting, Daisuke bounced around like he was in the middle of a sugar rush, and Tamotsu loyally stood by his young charge's side. "You have a book in your bag right? It's going to be a long drive. You don't want to get bored," Akemi stated.

" _The Hobbit_ ," the little boy nodded, restlessly fiddling with the drawstrings of his blue, short sleeved hoodie. He cheered and his guide dog let out a short woof when the elevator doors slide open.

The Motomiya family walked to Odaiba Elementary School. There were four buses sitting together at the side of the parking lot. They were actually charter buses not school buses. Despite getting there around twenty minutes early there was already a sizable crowd gathered. "Ah, Fujiyama-sensei!" Akemi called when she spotted the teacher who would be in charge of the group of students that included her children. Fujiyama quickly said something to one of the bus drivers before jogging towards them.

"Motomiya-san, you're looking lovely as ever this morning if you don't mind me saying," he complimented with a large smile. Jun blew out a slow breath and resisted the urge to roll her eyes. Fujiyama-sensei had become rather clearly enamored with Akemi since she had started conversing with him about the summer camp.

"I don't," Akemi smiled indulgently.

Around a month ago Jun had asked her mother if she had noticed Fujiyama-sensei's crush. 'Of course. How could I miss it? He doesn't exactly hide it well,' Akemi answered. The two of them were both moving around the kitchen. Akemi was making herself a salad and Jun was packing her lunch for the next day at school.

'Doesn't bother you?' Jun questioned, trying to decide if she wanted to pack an orange or an apple.

'He's not hurting anything,' Akemi shrugged. 'Besides, it's kind of sweet.'

'Whoa, wait,' Jun turned away from the fridge to face her mother apples and oranges forgotten. 'You're not interested in Fujiyama-sensei's are you?'

'I'm not ready to start dating again,' Akemi shook her head, voice grave in contrast to the casual tone of the rest of their exchange. Jun stared at where her hand was wrapped around the handle of the fridge door, a slight frown on her face. The air felt heavy...suffocating.

'Well, if you ever do start dating don't date Fujiyama-sensei. He's weird,' she stated with false flippancy. Since her father's death she had not really given much thought to the possibility of her mother seeing someone else.

'Noted,' Akemi laughed. Jun found that she did not like the idea.

They moved their suitcases so that they would be loaded onto the bus with the rest of the luggage. Fujiyama once again reassured Akemi that everything would be fine, and yes, he did have her number and would call if anything went wrong. One of the other counselors came up to them and asked for Fujiyama's help with something. "Have a wonderful summer, Motomiya-san. We're going to have so much fun at camp, kids!" Fujiyama grinned before walking off with the counselor. Akemi waved. Jun pulled out her phone and checked the time: 9:46.

"Otou-san, that boy's got a dog!" Jun glanced over to see a brown haired boy, he looked to be a little older than Daisuke, pointing at Tamotsu.

"It's rude to point," the boy's father scolded as he pushed down the arm the boy was gesturing at them with.

"You told me pets weren't allowed; that Chiyo-chan had to stay at home," the boy pouted.

"That boy's dog isn't just a pet," the father began. Jun was distracted from listening to the man's explanation of guide dogs when someone bumped into her.

"Watch it," she snapped, turning around to see a short boy with red hair who was wearing an orange button-up. He was holding a cell phone in one hand and had a laptop case strapped to his back. He was a couple years younger than her and Jun had seen him around the hallways on multiple occasions when she attended the elementary school but she did not know his name.

"Ah, I'm so sorry, Jun-sempai," the boy apologized, looking away from the cell phone he had been engrossed in.

"Then you should watch where you're going," she scolded, hands planted firmly on her hips as she glared at him.

"Of course," the boy nodded fervently before quickly walking away.

"What?" she demanded when Daisuke started giggling.

"You can be scary, Jun-neechan," the eight year old stated with a smile.

"And that makes you laugh because...?" she prompted.

"It just does," he shrugged.

"You're ridiculous," she huffed.

"Looks like they're about to start loading up," Akemi commented. She faced her two children, "Well, I suppose this is it...Im'ma miss my babies."

"Kaa-san," Jun groaned. "Daisuke might still be a baby, but I'm most certainly not."

"I'm not a baby," Daisuke protested.

"Sure you aren't, Dai-chan," she teased, pinching his cheek.

"Nee-chan," he whined, batting her hand away.

"Enough of that," Akemi cut in as she wrapped her arms around their shoulders. "Fight latter, hug your Kaa-chan goodbye now."

"Bye bye, Kaa-chan!" Daisuke threw his arms around her waist. Akemi chuckled as she picked up her son and held him on her hip.

"Promise to be good for your sister, do as she says, while your gone?" she asked.

"Promise," Daisuke nodded solemnly, arms wrapped loosely around her neck.

"And promise to tell me all about all the fun you have when you get home?"

"Promise!" Daisuke beamed, hugging his mother tightly.

"My sweet boy," Akemi held her youngest child for a moment longer before setting him down. "You keep good care of Dai-chan, Tamotsu," she said, petting the Lab's head. The dog lapped at the side of her jaw. "I know you will," she laughed leaning away from his slobbery tongue. She stood up to face her oldest. She held out her arms and smiled. Jun smiled back and hugged her.

"I love you, Kaa-san," Jun spoke into Akemi's shoulder.

"I love you too, sweetie," Akemi replied. "Promise to keep an eye on your brother. I know you already do, but..."

"I know," Jun stated. Daisuke blindness, the loss of her husband, all of it made Akemi rather overprotective. This was also going to be the longest that Daisuke had been away from her. "I'll take care of him."

"Promise that you'll try and have some fun too?" Akemi leaned back so that she could see Jun's face.

"Yeah, okay," Jun sighed. She glanced towards the buses. They had started letting kids on them.

"You might be surprised. You could really like camp if you let yourself," Akemi pressed. Jun met her mother's hopeful gaze and nodded.

"I promise I'll try," she stated sincerely.

"That's the spirit," Akemi beamed, giving her daughter's arms a squeeze before letting go. "Now you two better get going before your left behind," she teased, tickling Daisuke.

"Oh no!" the little boy shrieked. "Let's go, Jun-neechan!" he giggled before giving Tamotsu the command to lead him in the direction of the buses. "Hurry!" he called over his shoulder.

"They're not going to leave us behind," Jun stated as she followed her little brother and Tamotsu.

"Goodbye! I'll miss you!" Akemi called.

"Bye bye!" Daisuke called while Jun waved.

The three of them got in line with the other kids who were waiting to get on the bus. They were standing behind a group of girls who were a year or two younger than Jun. Daisuke rocked his weight from his toes to his heels and hummed a random tune. "What a cute dog! Can I pet him?" a high pitched female voice asked. A kid, but he did not think she was quite as young as him.

"Sure," he nodded. There was the rustle of fabric followed by the soft swish of a hand carding through Tamotsu's fur.

"What's his name?" the girl asked.

"Tamotsu," he answered.

"A noble name," she smiled, Daisuke could hear it in her voice. He thought that the girl's voice sounded kind of noble. It sounded like how he imagined a young princess' voice would be – a bit prissy but with a refreshing note of genuineness

"Mimi-chan, come on," another girl called.

"Coming," the girl, Mimi, replied. "It was a pleasure meeting you, Tamotsu-chan and uh..."

"Motomiya Daisuke," he supplied.

"Daisuke-kun," Mimi finished. There was the rustle of fabric then retreating footsteps.

When the line moved Tamotsu moved with it leading his young charge till they arrived at the base of the metal steps that they had to go up to get on the bus. Tamotsu stopped and sat down. "Steps going up. They're steep. There's a rail on your right. I'll be right behind you," Jun told her brother. Daisuke reached forward and after a moment of searching wrapped his hand around the railing. He then carefully made his way up the stairs with Tamotsu's help. Jun ascended behind him, ready to steady the little boy if he tripped.

"Motomiyas, gotcha," Fujiyama gave them a thumbs up after he checked their names off on the roster. Jun nodded to him before slipping past Daisuke and Tamotsu. She started down the aisle and looked for some free seats. She grimaced when she walked past a group of particularly rambunctious boys. She glanced over her shoulder to see Tamotsu leading Daisuke behind her, deftly maneuvering his charge around a slumped backpack that was covering half the aisle at one point, not at all distracted by the chaos that was over a dozen kids in a bus. Jun smiled. He was a good dog.

Jun stopped by two free seats in the back half of the bus. One row in front was empty and two behind one of the two seats across the aisle from them was occupied by Jun's classmate Jou Kido. The bespectacled boy was reading a book. The grimace on his face could either mean that he was at a rather unhappy part in the story or he was having trouble focusing with all the noise. Jun slipped into the seat by the window and Tamotsu lead Daisuke to the seat beside her. "We're on our way, hurray!" Daisuke cheered as he bounced into his seat.

"We haven't even left yet," Jun pointed out. She took off her backpack and placed it on her lap. There was over head space, but she would rather hold her bag. Tamotsu scooted into their foot space and laid down so that his head was facing the aisle. Jun adjusted her legs to make room for the guide dog. Daisuke's legs were so short that they hung in the air a couple inches above Tamotsu's head. "Good boy," Jun praised reaching down to scratch the Lab's rump. He looked over his shoulder at her, tongue lolling and tail thumping.

"Tsu-chan deserves a treat," Daisuke declared, pulling a baggy of dog treats out of his shorts' pocket. He took out one of the treats and offered it to Tamotsu who happily gobbled it up. The little boy giggled and patted the dog's head.

Jun looked up and caught Jou's gaze. "Kido-kun," she smiled. They were lab partners and Jun liked the arrangement. Jou was easy to work with, an intelligent and diligent student, they always got their labs done on time and got good scores on them.

"Jun-chan, your attending camp as well?...Of course you are," he nervously adjusted his glasses. "You're on the bus heading to camp. That was a silly question."

"Yep," she giggled. "I'm going to camp along with my brother Daisuke."

"And Tsu-chan!" the little boy exclaimed.

"And Tamotsu."

"It's nice to meet you, Daisuke-kun. I'm Kido Jou. Your sister and I are lab partners," Jou told him. Daisuke gasped.

"Do you two blow stuff up?" he asked.

"Yes," Jun answered, voice strong – proud.

"O-only that one time, a-and we were proving a point," Jou hastened to add.

"Awesome!" Daisuke exclaimed, throwing both his arms into the air and almost smacking Jun in the face by accident.

"We're sitting in a parked bus not riding a roller coaster," Jun stated as she pushed down Daisuke's arm that was closest to her.

"Alright! Alright, settle down!" Fujiyama shouted, trying to get all the kids to be quiet. "Come on, I only need a couple minutes to make some announcements!...Quiet!" he sent a pointed look to a group of boys who had been joking around. "Good," Fujiyama straightened his shirt and took a deep breath when the loud chattering became soft whispering. "Good," he smiled. "We're-"

"Wait!" Taichi shouted as he bounded onto the bus. Fujiyama threw his hands up. Jun half expected him to throw his clipboard.

"Yagami! You have a good reason for being so late?" Fujiyama demanded.

"Of course...of course. A, a _very_ good reason...You see, uh..." Taichi trailed. Fujiyama made a go on gesture. "Dog ate my homework," he stated quickly.

"What homework? There was no homework!" Fujiyama shouted.

"...I'm getting a head start?" Taichi suggested with a sheepish smile.

"Sit down!" he exclaimed, exasperated. "Just...sit down."

"Yes, Sensei," Taichi quickly made his way past the angry teacher and sat down next to the orange haired Sora Takenouchi. She and Taichi played soccer together and were good friends.

"Where's Taichi-nii?" Daisuke asked.

"He's sitting with Sora-chan. Now keep your voice down. Fujiyama-sensei's already in a bad mood because of Taichi. You don't want him getting mad at you do you?" Jun whispered.

"Fujiyama-sensei likes Kaa-chan too much to get mad at us," Daisuke giggled, but he was keeping his voice down like Jun had wanted.

"You noticed that?" Jun asked, turning her head to get a better look at her brother. Despite being an excitable eight year old Daisuke could be surprisingly observant.

Daisuke nodded, "he thinks she's the bee's knees."

"Bee's knees?" Jun repeated. Fujiyama-sensei was standing in the aisle towards the front of the bus addressing them all, but she wasn't paying attention to what he was saying.

"I heard a lady say it on TV the other day. It's a funny way of saying you think someone's really amazing. I don't know what's so amazing about bee knees, or if bees even have knees. Do bees have knees?" the little boy started to ramble. "But that's what it means," he shrugged.

"I know what bee's knees means," Jun stated, well that rhymed. "I just didn't know why you were saying it. It's just an expression and I don't know, maybe, bees could have little bee knees."

"Oh! We're moving!" Daisuke cheered, when the bus rumbled and roared to life and he was pressed against the back of his seat as it jerked forward.

"Yeah," Jun nodded, turning her head to look out the window. They pulled away from the school and Jun glanced back at the building till they took a left turn and it fell out of sight. Jun sighed and leaned back in her chair, absently fiddling with the silver crescent moon pendant on the necklace she was wearing. Beside her Daisuke was still brimming with excitement. She wondered how long it would take for that to change to boredom.

They were driving along the freeway when Taichi got up from his seat next to Sora and plopped down in the empty seat in front of Daisuke. "Excited, Daisuke?" he asked.

"Am I ever!" the eight year old beamed.

"Summer camp's been all he's spoken about for weeks," Jun stated. Taichi laughed and spoke with them for a little while longer.

"I'll see you when we get there," Taichi promised as he ruffled Daisuke's hair. He then stood up and headed back to his seat next to Sora.

It was about five minutes latter when Daisuke started complaining that he was bored. "Why don't you read?" Jun suggested.

"I don't feel like reading," the little boy pouted.

"Then I hope you enjoy being bored," Jun shrugged, turning her head to gaze out the window. Daisuke let out a long sigh as he slumped in his chair. A few minutes latter he pulled his braille copy of Tolkien's _The Hobbit_ out of his bagand started reading. Jun continued to look out the window but after awhile that grew dull. She opened her backpack and got out her crochet hook and light pink yarn. She had already been working with the yarn before and picked up where she had left off. She was making an amigurumi of a bunny.

Jun had been crocheting for a little over half an hour when Daisuke slumped against her. The twelve year old looked over to see that her brother had fallen asleep. The eight year old had been up late the night before they left. Too excited to sleep. It was no wonder that he fell asleep shortly after he finally calmed down. Jun transferred her hook and yarn to one hand and used her now free hand to grab Daisuke's book from his slack fingers. She marked his place and set the book down next to her. "If you drool on me..." she warned in a whisper, lips forming a soft smile.

Daisuke slept the rest of the drive. Jun put away her things and closed her backpack as they pulled into the campsite. "Daisuke, we're here," Jun shook his shoulder when their bus parked alongside the others. Her brother muttered gibberish under his breath and shifted to bury his face in her shoulder. "Come on it's time to get up," she prodded.

"Mm, n't wanna," the little boy mumbled.

"I thought you were _so_ excited for camp, but if-"

"Camp!" the boy sat up straight, blinking his sightless eyes, tinted glasses askew, and his burgundy hair sticking up more than usual. "We're here?" he asked, fixing his glasses.

"We are," Jun answered, giggling when the little boy's face lit up.

"Let's go!" Daisuke exclaimed, bouncing in his seat. Tamotsu lifted his head off his paws and looked up at his boy.

"Put your book away first," Jun instructed, handing _The Hobbit_ to him. The little boy took it and stuffed it into his backpack.

"Tsu-chan," he called as he slipped on his backpack. The Lab stood up, making as much room from the siblings as he could without stepping out into the aisle. Daisuke bounced out of his seat and found the handle on Tamotsu's harness, wrapping his hand firmly around it.

Tamotsu waited for there to be a break in the flow of children trying to get off the bus. When the human who was sitting across from them stepped out into the aisle he stopped. He said something as he made a sweeping gesture with his hand. Tamotsu waited a beat to make sure he had interpreted the human's intentions correctly before leading his charge into the aisle.

"Thanks, Kido-kun," Jun smiled as she followed the boy and dog.

Tamotsu sat down when he arrived at the top of the stairs. Daisuke found the railing and kept a firm hold on it as he slowly made his way down the steps. Going down was harder than going up but with Tamotsu at his side and Jun right behind him he was not afraid. He hopped off the last one. Gravel crunching under his shoes when he landed on the ground. Jun stepped down behind him, using one of her hands to shade her eyes as she looked around. There were several wooden cabins, a grassy clearing that lead to a crystal lake, a small shrine sitting at the top of a gently slopping hill, all this surrounded by a lush forest, in the distance she could make out large rolling hills, and mountains on the horizon. It was picturesque. Jun took a deep breath of the fresh air and smiled.

She frowned a second latter when three girls shrieked as they ran past her. One of them bumped into Jun as they passed and would of run into Daisuke too if Tamotsu had not nudged him out of the way. "Hey!" Jun shouted, glaring at the girls' backs as they kept running and screaming without even glancing back at her. Jun huffed and crossed her arms.

"The air's nice," Daisuke commented with a smile. He took a deep breath. "Clean, light," he stated.

"Yeah," Jun's reply was subdued.

The next twenty minutes or so was spent getting the buses unloaded and moving luggage into the correct cabins. Daisuke also left his backpack in the cabin with his suitcase. After that was finished they were all given free time until lunch. Jun ended up laying halfway up the hill that had the shrine at the top while Daisuke played with Tamotsu nearby. It was uncrowded and peaceful since most of the other campers had gone down to the lake or were hanging around the cabins. Jun's eyes were closed, the grass was warm and comfortable, there was a soft breeze, and the rustle of leaves was soothing. She was almost asleep when Daisuke spoke, "Jun-neechan, I think it's snowing!"

"That's impossible. It's summer," Jun stated without opening her eyes.

"But something cold landed on me. Oh! It happened again. It sure feels like snow," he replied. The twelve year old sighed, thinking that the little boy was trying to start a game of make believe.

"I'm tired. I'll play with y-" Jun stopped talking mid word when something cold hit her cheek. She opened her eyes to see several fat flakes of snow floating through the air. "What?"

Jun stood up and looked around. It was snowing in the middle of summer and not just a light flurry either. It was really coming down. The ground and trees were already being coated in a layer of white. The wind picked up and she held down her skirt with one hand while her other arm shielded her face from the icy blast. Daisuke yelped as the wind threatened to knock him off his feet. He wrapped his arms around Tamotsu's neck and buried his face in the Lab's fur.

Through the swirling snow Jun could vaguely make out counselors directing campers into the cabins. She had not thought it was that far before, but now with a blizzard raging the cabins seemed to be miles away. She looked away from the distant cabins and spotted her brother clinging to Tamotsu. "Daisuke!" her voice was drowned out by the roaring winds. She trudged through the quickly deepening snowbank. She laid a hand on his shoulder when she was close enough to do so. He jumped at the sudden contact but between his shivering it was barely noticeable.

"Nee-chan," he called, turning his head from Tamotsu's neck. Jun could barely hear him over the wind.

She looked towards the distant cabins. Her teeth chattered, her fingers and toes were quickly going numb, her legs and arms were prickling with goosebumps, and her face felt raw from being battered by the freezing wind. She turned to the side so that her back was taking the brunt of the wind. She looked up and spotted the small shrine at the top of the hill. "Tamotsu!" she called. The guide dog looked up at her. The twelve year old gestured towards the shrine. "Go!" she commanded. Tamotsu started leading his young charge towards the shrine, the little boy hanging onto him with both arms. Jun trudged beside them. She briefly considered picking Daisuke up. The boy was small for his age – most of their family was on the short side – and under normal circumstances she could carry him with little trouble, but with this storm she was having trouble just keeping herself on her feet.

They arrived at the base of the deck surrounding the shrine just as a blond boy Jun recognized as Yamato Ishida from the same grade as Taichi opened the door and ushered a boy who was around Daisuke age inside. Jun did not recognize the little blond boy but he bared a striking resemblance to Yamato so she assumed they were related somehow. "Come on!" Yamato offered her a hand. Jun took it and he pulled her up onto the deck. The magenta haired girl let go of his hand and grabbed Daisuke under his arms and lifted him onto the deck while Tamotsu hefted himself up. The guide dog led Daisuke into the shrine with Jun on their heels. "Thanks," she smiled as she walked past Yamato.

"No problem," he mumbled, flushing slightly as he looked away from her and slide the door shut.

Jun looked around the simple interior of the shrine. There were a few other kids already inside. "I hope the storm doesn't blow the building down," Jou fretted as he wrung his hands together in front of him and looked warily at the shaking walls.

"Don't say things like that!" Mimi cried as she crouched down and covered her ears.

"The building's structurally sound. It's not going to come down," the red headed boy who had bumped into Jun back at the school stated absently as he sat on the ground with a laptop sitting in front of him. "Now my internet connection on the other hand..."

"Wow whee! A doggy!" the little blond boy beamed as he bounced up to Tamotsu and petted the guide dog.

"You need to ask before you pet someone's dog, Takeru," Yamato scolded.

"Oh," Takeru looked up at him and then turned his gaze to the other little boy. "May I please pet your dog?" he asked, remembering his teacher's 'I don't know can you?'

"You may," Daisuke giggled. "His name's Tamotsu."

"Hello, Tamotsu-chan," Takeru smiled as he scratched behind the Lab's ear. "I'm Takaishi Takeru," he said, more to the burgundy haired boy than the dog.

"Motomiya Daisuke."

The door to the shrine was thrown open again and Taichi and Sora rushed inside. Taichi slammed the door behind them and leaned against it.

"This is crazy," Sora stated as she brushed snow off her clothes.

"No kidding," Jun snorted. She slipped off her backpack and opened it. She pulled out her gray cardigan and put it on.

"Pretty exciting. Wouldn't you say, Daisuke?" Taichi asked as he sat down next to the eight year old.

"Pretty cold," the little boy pouted, teeth chattering slightly.

"Come here," Taichi chuckled, gently pulling Daisuke onto his lap and hugging the little boy.

"Can we go sledding when the storm dies down?" Daisuke asked after a moment of no one talking. It was not silence because the winds were still howling outside and the walls were groaning under the strain.

"We'll have toboggan races since the canoe ones will have to be canceled," Taichi answered.

"Sounds like the winds have died down," Sora commented awhile latter.

"Let me up," Taichi said, patting Daisuke's arm. The eight year old stood up and Taichi pushed himself off the ground. He slide the door of the shrine open. The whole campsite was covered in a deep layer of snow but no more was falling. "It seems to have stopped," he told the others before stepping outside.

"It snowed! What a surprise," Takeru cheered as he ran out of the shrine.

"Hey, Takeru, be careful," Yamato called as he ran after him.

"I'm going to build the biggest snowman ever," the blond eight year old stated.

"Slow down! You're gonna fall," Yamato warned.

"Wow, it's so cold and I didn't bring a jacket," Sora rubbed her hands along her bare arms as she stood in the doorway.

"Sora!" Taichi waved to her from where he was making snowballs. The girl smiled and jogged towards her friend.

"We should go back to the others. The counselors will be worried when they notice us missing," Jou stated. The other kids paid him no mind as they kept playing in the snow. "Come on guys, we shouldn't-" the rest of his words were cut off when Mimi bumped into him.

"Wow! It's so beautiful," she exclaimed. "Oh, why didn't I pack my fluffy, pink snow boots?" she wondered as she left the shrine.

"Lighten up, Kido-kun," Jun chuckled as she came to stand next to her classmate.

"It snowed a lot?" Daisuke questioned, pushing at her hip. Jun stepped to the side so that he and Tamotsu could slip past her.

"Mm hm, a winter wonderland in the middle of summer," Jun nodded. Daisuke crouched at the edge of the deck and sunk his hands into the snowbank as deep as he could.

"I'm still not touching the ground!" the eight year old exclaimed when his whole arms were buried in snow. He tried to sit back, but couldn't. "And now I'm stuck. Help, Jun-nee!" he giggled.

"I don't know. Maybe I'll just leave you to freeze. Then you'll be a brosicle," Jun teased even as she wrapped her arms around his waist and pulled him out of the snow. She heard the others all gasp and looked up to see what was going on. "Oh my," her dark brown eyes filled with awe.

"What is it, Nee-chan?" Daisuke asked.

"There are colorful lights in the sky," she explained gently bumped her elbow against his arm. Her brother wrapped his hand around her arm and together they walked towards the others, Tamotsu trotting on the little boy's other side.

"Hey, uh, Izumi, Come out here, you gotta see this!" Taichi called to the short red head who was still messing with his computer in the shrine.

"Whoa," Sora gasped.

"The lights are making an elegant slow dance across the sky," Jun told Daisuke.

"So romantic," Mimi sighed.

"That's..." Izumi trailed as he came to stand beside Sora.

"It's an aurora," the girl finished.

"I've never seen one before!" Taichi beamed.

"It's amazing, isn't it?" Takeru exclaimed.

Daisuke wrapped one of his arms around Tamotsu, pulling his guide dog into a side hug. 'Elegant slow dance across the sky.' Daisuke remembered holding his mother's hands and standing on top of her feet as she danced them around the dinning room. It had really been more playful than elegant, but it had made him happy. Light and colors were both abstract concepts to him, but he associate light with warmth. He thought of a pillow they had at home that had an image of a sun embroidered on it. He recalled the many times he had run his hand across the image, feeling the round center and the six beams that extended from it. He imagined the beams – warm, like after Kaa-chan took the pillow out of the dryer – being on their own, billowing and twirling around each other in their own dance. Daisuke smiled at the scene he had conjured in his mind. He had no idea if it was even close to what the others were seeing, but he didn't care. He thought that the scene he had created was nice. It was his own.

"This is impossible! Auroras occur predominately around the Arctic and Antarctic. It's unnatural to see them at this latitude," Izumi exclaimed.

"The snow storm in the middle of summer didn't seem very natural either," Sora commented.

"Something strange is going on," Jun nodded.

"This is why I think we should go find the counselors. Besides none of us are dressed for this kind of weather," Jou stated.

"He's right, it wouldn't be cool if all of us got sick," Yamato agreed.

"Hey, look!" Taichi pointed towards the sky before any of them could start making their way down to the cabins. A whirlwind of green flames had formed and several beams of light shot from it causing all the children, except Daisuke, to gasp.

"What's go-" the little boy was thrown to the ground when the earth shook.

"Get down!" Jun shouted, wrapping her arms around her brother.

The earth shook eight more times. The others were all screaming. Tamotsu was barking as he stood protectively by his young charge flank brushing against the little boy's knees. They were showered by snow and small chunks of rocks. Distantly, with one hand wrapped around Tamotsu's harness and the other griping his sister's arm, Daisuke put together that this meant something was crashing into the ground around them. Then it was over.

"Is anyone hurt?" Sora asked. She scanned the group, not spotting any obvious injuries.

"Daisuke?" Jun studied her little brother. He did not appear to be hurt, but his hand was trembling – which she did not believe was completely a result of the cold – where it was gripping her sleeve so tightly that his knuckles were white. "You didn't wet your pants did you?"

"Be quiet!" Daisuke whined, letting go of her sleeve so he could shove her.

"Everyone's fine," Yamato answered Sora's question after checking with Takeru and doing a quick scan of the rest of the group. They were shaken but unhurt.

"That was so scary," Mimi stated, pulling the sides of her pink cowgirl hat down.

"Wh...what was it?" Jou stuttered as he straightened his glasses.

"Meteors?" Izumi suggested, crawling towards one of the small craters. His dark eyes widened when a soft beam of light shot from it. The beam then became a slowly rising bubble with a dark blue light floating in the center. He glanced at the others to see that all of them had a bubble in front of them as well. Taichi was the first to grab his and the others soon followed.

Daisuke could sense something in the air in front of him. It was giving off heat and a very faint ringing noise. The little boy found himself drawn towards it and without making the conscious decision to do so he was reaching for it with both of his hands. His hands closed around the source of the warmth, and his eyebrows drew together as he felt the object he was now holding. It was small, had three buttons, a smooth screen, and a short antenna.

"What am I holding?" Daisuke asked, holding the object out so that Jun would be able to see it.

"It's some kind of digital device. We all got one," she answered.

"It's not a cell phone, pager, or anything like that," Izumi stated. "Huh?" he mumbled when the screen on the device lite up with a green light. He only had a second to wonder about that before a giant wave rose up in front of them seemingly coming from nowhere.

Tamotsu bared his teeth, hackles raised as he stood in front of his young charge. He whipped around when he heard Daisuke gasp. The little boy, along with all the other humans, was being sucked into a portal inside of the wave. Daisuke flipped head over heels, his tinted glasses slipping off his face and falling into the snow. Tamotsu jumped up and grabbed Daisuke's ankle in his jaws, careful not to bite down hard enough to hurt his boy. The Lab enjoyed holding things in his mouth and could do so with great gentleness, but as the portal kept fighting him for possession of Daisuke he had to let go for fear of accidentally harming his charge.

Tamotsu barked, frantically running back and fourth as his boy screamed. The portal soon disappeared along with his young charge. Tamotsu barked one more time, the sound echoing across the snow covered planes. The Lab whined and made his way over to his boy's fallen glasses. He laid down with his nose brushing one of the dark lenses.

 **Japanese Terms:**

– **neechan/–niichan: honorific for ones older sister or older brother, but can also be used with an older friend who is considered like a sibling or with a slightly older relative. Adding an O– to the beginning denotes respect. –San can also be used instead of –chan or in some cases neither may be used (like Taichi-nii).**

 **Kaa-san/Tou-san: means mother or father. An O– added to the beginning denotes respect. Using –chan instead of –san is kind of like saying Mama and Papa instead of Mom and Dad.**

– **chan: honorific most frequently used for girls but is also used for pets and little children regardless of gender. It implies endearment.**

– **kun: honorific mostly used for boys, especially when addressing someone younger. It can also be used to address a female peer who is slightly younger (Jou addresses both Sora and Mimi using –kun).**

– **san: the most common honorific. Similar to Mr. or Ms.**

– **baasan/–baachan: honorific for ones grandmother or an older woman who the speaker is familiar with. Using –chan instead of –san is pretty much the equivalent of calling them granny instead of grandmother.**

– **sensei: honorific used for teachers (as well as martial arts masters, doctors, scientists, writers, and pretty much any master of a profession or art).**

– **sempai: honorific used for ones upperclassman or mentor.**

 **Tamotsu: Japanese male name meaning protector or keeper.**

 **Amigurumi: The Japanese art of crocheting or knitting small stuffed toys. Animals are most common, but people also make dolls, inanimate objects, and really just whatever they want. It originated in Japan but has become popular all around the world.**

 **Well, there's the first chapter. I hope you enjoyed it and would appreciate it if you took the time to review :).**


	2. Adrift? The Island of Adventure!

**Oh Wow! The response to the first chapter really blew me away. You guys are the best! A big thank you to everyone who reviewed, favorited, and/or followed! I hope you enjoy this chapter! :D**

CHAPTER 2: Adrift? The Island of Adventure!

Daisuke's first conscious thought was that it was warm. He curled his fingers tangling them in soft blades of grass, and he could hear the rustle of wind blowing through leaf covered tree branches. 'Did I fall asleep in the park again?' he wondered. Kaa-chan would be worried if he had been gone too long. "Tsu-chan," he called as he sat up.

"Oh! You're awake," a young male voice exclaimed from his left. From the sound of their voice Daisuke would of guessed that the boy was even younger than him. Maybe five or six. "I'm so happy! I've waited such a long time for you, Daisuke, and now you're finally here!" he gushed, throwing himself onto Daisuke's lap. It was not a kid. It was too small. The eight year old took a sharp breath and lifted his arms away from the...the creature that was on him.

"What...what are you?" Daisuke asked. 'And where's Tsu-chan?' The guide dog always stayed within hearing distance of his charge and always responded promptly when Daisuke called him. The only reason he wouldn't come was if he couldn't. "...Oh." The snow, dancing lights, being pulled into the sky, all of it came back to him then.

"I'm your partner. We're going to be the bestest friends!" the creature on Daisuke's lap beamed. However, the little boy was too lost in his own revelations to hear him.

"Jun-neechan! Tsu-chan!" Daisuke stood up abruptly knocking the creature off his lap.

"What's the matter, Daisuke?"

"Nee-chan!" the little boy screamed. He paused, waited for a response. There wasn't one. There was nothing. "Tsu-chan!" he cried desperation seeping into his tone. It appeared that he was alone in a strange unknown place with a strange unknown creature. The fact settled like a rock in his gut.

"Daisuke, are you alright?" the creature sounded genuinely concerned.

"Who are you?" Daisuke asked. The creature was strange, but strange did not necessarily mean bad.

"I'm Chibimon."

"You're not a kid," the little boy sat back down crossing his legs and laying his hands on his lap.

"I'm a digimon," Chibimon replied.

"Can I...?" Daisuke reached his left hand in the general direction of the digimon's voice. Being lost was still frightening, but Chibimon seemed nice and Daisuke was curious. A moment passed before the digimon brushed against his hand. Chibimon's skin was warm and velvety reminding Daisuke of Yoshida-baachan's Sphinx Cat. "Where are we?" he lifted his other hand and carefully felt Chibimon's head.

"The Digital World," Chibimon closed his eyes, and Daisuke's thumbs lightly brushed over the lids. Chibimon had large eyes – doe eyes, as his mother would call them – and long, floppy ears.

"I've never heard of the Digital World," Daisuke chewed on his bottom lip. "I need to find Jun-neechan and Tsu-chan and Taichi-nii and...and oh, all the other kids from camp!" the little boy exclaimed, slightly disheartened. That was a lot of people to find by himself. He just needed to find one. Once he found at least one familiar person then it would be easier to find the others. It was even possible that the others were together, and he would find them all at once. Daisuke smiled softly, feeling better. He wasn't really alone either. "Will you help me look for them?"

"Of course I'll help you! I'm your partner," Chibimon jumped into Daisuke's arms. The digimon's body was small. His arms and legs were short and stubby and he had a long tail.

"What do you mean by that? Partner?" Daisuke held Chibimon with one arm while the other reached out in front of him.

"It's means I'm going to protect you!"

"Really?" Daisuke's eyebrows rose. Before school let out for summer break he had a project where they were assigned partners. Being partners with Hideki – the stuck up brat – meant the other boy calling him stupid and other mean things whenever their teacher wasn't around. Being partners with Chibimon sounded much more appealing.

"And I'm gonna be the bestest partner ever, so don't you worry!" the little digimon pledged. Daisuke's mouth hung open in surprise

"I'll try to be a good partner to you," he stated after a moment. "Tell me if I'm about to run into something."

Daisuke took a cautious step forward. He barely lifted his foot off the ground more sliding it across the forest floor. He held his free arm in front of him using it to make slow sweeping arcs in front of him to feel for obstacles in his path. Chibimon watched his partner's slow progression. His brow creased as he put the pieces together. "You're blind."

"I am," Daisuke nodded. The eight year old wondered if Chibimon would now be disappointed to have him as a partner. He hadn't sounded disappointed when he came to the realization but still...

"There's a tree," Chibimon warned.

"Got it," the little boy's hand found the tree in his path. He ran his hand along the rough bark as he moved around it.

"There are a lot of trees. We're in a forest, so I guess that's obvious. There are bushes too. Oh, some of them have berries on them, small, round purple ones that grow in clumps." It took Daisuke a moment to realize that Chibimon was describing their surroundings, but when he did it brought a smile to his face. Seemed he didn't need to worry about the little digimon accepting him. "Uh, flowers too. There are tiny yellow ones speckled all over the place, purple ones that grow on the trunks of tress, and large pink ones..."

"Takeru!"

"Did you hear that?" Daisuke stopped walking. Chibimon's head perked up as he focused on listening.

"Takeru!" a male voice called.

"Yeah, there's someone else..." he took a deep breath through his nose picking up on the other being's scent. "Human like you. Seems he's looking for a 'Takeru.'"

"Hello!" Daisuke waved his free hand over his head. "Over here!" he would of called for the older boy by name...if he knew his name.

"Hey, uh, Daisuke-kun, you're here too," the older boy greeted.

"Oh, now I can see him. I was right! He is another human!"

"And you've also got one of these..."

"Digimon," an unfamiliar, meek male voice supplied.

"You got a partner too?" Daisuke curiously tilted his head to the side.

"That's what this little guy tells me he is," the older boy answered. Daisuke imagined he was shrugging.

"I'm Tsunomon. It's a pleasure to meet you," the meek voice greeted.

"Chibimon, nice meeting ya."

"What does Tsunomon look like? Does he look like you, Chibimon?" Daisuke asked eagerly. This was all so strange. It was frightening, yes, but also exciting. Though it would be better if Tamotsu, Jun, or Taichi were with him.

"We look nothing alike," Chibimon huffed. He sounded a little miffed by the suggestion.

"I'm sure you're a lot cuter," Daisuke dipped his head down and whispered to the little digimon.

"Have you seen...uh, run into my brother, Daisuke-kun? Takeru. I need to find him," the older boy asked.

"I haven't 'run into' anyone other than you," Daisuke shook his head, chuckling slightly. He did not find words like see offensive – unless someone was intentionally using it to belittle him – but people tended to assume that he would. "I don't guess you've seen Jun-neechan or any of the others."

"I haven't," the older boy sighed.

"Look for them together," Daisuke grinned and held his free hand out to the older boy.

"Alright," the older boy replied. He took hold of Daisuke's hand and started moving without any warning. "Takeru! Where are you, Takeru!" he shouted, pulling Daisuke behind him. The little boy had to jog to keep up with the older boy's quick pace. Which was no easy task considering the treacherous terrain that was the forest floor. "Takeru!"

Daisuke's foot got caught in a bush, he pulled it free, and regained his balance in time to stop himself from falling. He understood that the older boy was worried about his little brother and could appreciate the bond between siblings. What he didn't appreciated was being carelessly dragged through a forest. He was about to complain when Chibimon exclaimed: "Tree!" right before Daisuke ran face first into said tree.

"Got it," Daisuke mumbled.

Yamato had just run a little, blind boy into a tree. Well he felt like a terrible person. He let go of Daisuke's hand and knelt down beside him. The eight year old started carefully feeling his reddened nose with his now free hand as tears welled in his sightless, brown eyes. "Are you alright?"

"Yeah, me and this tree were just getting to know each other," Daisuke laughed, giving the trunk of the tree he had run into a pat. Guilt twisted in Yamato's gut.

"I'm sorry. I should have been paying more attention," he apologized. Daisuke hummed and nodded.

"Let's keep looking for the others," he held his hand out to the older boy again. Yamato was surprised that Daisuke would trust him to guide him again, but then he guessed the kid didn't really have many other options. "Ah, but can I hold your arm this time?"

"Sure," Yamato stood up and helped Daisuke find his arm. The little boy adjusted his grip so that he was holding the older boy's forearm just above the wrist. Daisuke had such small hands. Yamato promised himself that this time he would show himself worthy of the trust that was being put in him.

They started walking again – actually walking – and after that they ran into few problems. Now that Yamato was paying attention he was not a half bad guide. It was not too much latter that they found Takeru. Yamato called his brother's name when he spotted a head of blond hair. Takeru looked up at them and a grin quickly formed on his face. "Yamato-niichan, meet Tokomon!" he ran towards them with a small white digimon at his side.

"Yamato," he heard Daisuke mutter under his breath, but did not wonder at the reason for long as he was distracted by his brother.

(Page Break)

"Jun...Jun"

"Hmm," the twelve year old hummed as she slowly returned to consciousness.

"Wake up, please."

"'M up," Jun mumbled. She blinked her eyes open and was greeted by a floating baby rattle with a face.

"Oh goody," the...whatever it was chimed. Jun screamed and backhanded it. "Whoa!" the baby rattle gasped as it spun a couple feet through the air.

"What the hell?" Jun shouted voice shrill as she scrambled away from the creature.

"Please don't be afraid," the creature begged as she, her voice sounded female so Jun assumed she was, floated towards her. She moved through the air like a jellyfish through the water – bobbing up and down. "I would never hurt you, Jun, I swear it," her voice was airy but still held conviction. Jun believed her.

"What are you?" Jun took slow, deep breaths in an attempt to calm her racing heart.

"I'm a digimon. My name's Moonmon. I'm so happy to final meet you, Jun! I've been waiting for you a very long time," the creature explained. Moonmon did look like a silvery blue baby rattle that was floating upside down in the air. Her face – complete with light pink blush – was on the 'rattle' and there were six, short tentacles – only a few centimeters long – wrapped around where it met with the 'handle.'

"Waiting for me? What for? Where are we? How do you know my name? What about my brother? Is he here too? And the other kids from camp what about them?" Jun fired the questions in quick succession.

Before Moonmon could even begin trying to answer Jun's questions a figure came barreling through the underbrush and tumbled into the girl. "Jun!" Moonmon cried. The magenta haired girl yelped as she was knocked into the grass. She caught herself with her hands to keep from face planting. She whipped her head up to see Jou laying on his back a couple feet from her.

"Well where's the fire?" Jun snapped.

"Jun-chan?" Jou sat up his right hand going to his bare face. His glasses were laying in a clump of grass a couple inches from Jun's face. She picked them up as she stood up.

"Here," she held the glasses in front of his face.

"Thanks," he nodded, taking his glasses and putting them on.

"Tell me why you were running like a mad man," she demanded placing both of her fists on her hips.

"Jou!" a nasally, male voice called.

"That's why!" Jou pointed at something behind Jun. The girl turned around to see a small creature that looked like a flying, gray seal with a tuft of orange fur on his head.

"Why'd you run away, Jou?" the creature asked. The tall Jou jumped to his feet and ducked behind the rather short Jun.

"Th-that thing won't leave me alone!" he cried, holding onto Jun's backpack.

"Hey, I'm no thing," the creature flew around Jun and latched onto Jou's shoulder. "The name's Pukamon." Jou screamed.

"Right in my ear," Jun complained, pulling her bag out of Jou's grip and turning to face him. She glared at him as she rubbed her left ear.

"Are you alright, Jun?" Moonmon asked.

"Fine," she nodded.

"There's another one!" Jou screamed, jerking away from the digimon. "What are they?" he scrambling out of the way when Pukamon tried to attach himself to his shoulder again. "And where are we? Just what's going on?"

"Hey!" Jun shouted. "You need to calm down right this second, or I'm going to slap you."

"Why would you do that?" Jou cried, looking at her with wide, dark eyes.

"Because I don't have time to deal with your freak out. I need to find my brother."

"Daisuke-kun's here too?" there was concern clear in Jou's voice.

"If we both are then I think it's safe to assume that the other kids who were with us before are too," Jun shrugged off her backpack and took off her cardigan. It was much warmer here than it had been at the camp after the blizzard.

"I suppose that makes sense," Jou nodded with a frown. "So how do we go about finding Daisuke-kun? This forest could be huge for all we know, and we have no idea where he is...or what else is out there," he side eyed the digimon at the last part.

"All the more reason to get moving," Jun did not wait for a reply before she started walking. "Daisuke!" she called as she pushed some low hanging limbs out of her way. She waited for a response. There wasn't one. Frowning, she pulled her cell phone out of her pocket.

"Wait up!" Jou scrambled to follow her. "You have a phone. That's great! We can call for help."

"It won't turn on. I just charged it last night. The battery shouldn't of died that quickly," Jun shook her head with a frown.

"May I?" Jou held a hand out.

"Sure," she shrugged and let him have the phone.

"Daisuke! Are you there, Jun's brother?" Moonmon called. Jou fiddled with the phone for a couple minutes before handing it back to Jun.

"No good," he sighed. "Daisuke-kun!"

"Hello?" it was Yamato who responded. He came into sight a few moments latter and he was not alone.

"Daisuke," Jun called.

"Jun-neechan!" the eight year old exclaimed. There was a little blue and white dragon perched on his shoulder. Daisuke let go of Yamato's arm and ran towards his sister. Jun met him half way, catching her brother's arm when he tripped on a rock.

"Careful," Jou warned too late.

"Jun-nee," Daisuke cried, throwing himself at his sister and tightly wrapping his arms around her. Jun took half a step back to keep her balance, and the little dragon almost fell off his shoulder.

"Yeah, I missed you too, but I'd still like to breath," Jun patted her little brother's head as she spoke.

"Tsu-chan's gone. I woke up and I didn't know where I was and he and you and everyone were all gone," the little boy told her in a rush. He sounded like he was on the verge of tears. Tamotsu had been Daisuke's constant companion for years. To suddenly find himself without him – without any of them – was understandably upsetting.

"I'm sure Tamotsu-chan's fine. He's probably back at camp, and I'm here now," Jun reassured, rubbing soothing circles on his back. Daisuke bottom lip trembled and a few tears slid down his cheeks. He remembered Tamotsu holding onto his ankle but then having to let go. While gravity had failed him Tamotsu had still been bound to the Earth.

"Please don't be sad, Daisuke," the little dragon pleaded.

"It looks like you've made a new friend. Why haven't you introduced us? I thought Kaa-san taught you good manners?" Jun teased gently.

"Kaa-chan did and I was going to," the little boy pouted. He sniffed and wiped the tears off his face. "Chibimon, Jun-neechan...Nee-chan, Chibimon. Did you make a digimon friend too?"

"Yeah," Jun looked at Moonmon. "Yeah, I did."

"Hello, Daisuke, I'm Moonmon."

"You sound nice," Daisuke smiled.

"T...thank you," the light pink blush on Moonmon's cheeks turned red.

"This still isn't everyone," Yamato pointed out. Jou looked around taking note of the missing faces.

"You're right. Oh, this is such a mess. Where do we even start to look for them? We don't even know where _we_ are," Jou bemoaned.

"I smell other humans, Takeru," Tokomon stated before running off into the underbrush.

"Wait for me," Takeru followed the digimon.  
"Takeru! Don't run off," Yamato ran after the boy and digimon.

"Come on," Jun bumped Daisuke's arm with hers. He wrapped his hand around her arm, and they followed the brothers and their digimon.

"Don't leave me!" Jou scrambled after them.

Tokomon led them through the forest until they arrived in a small clearing to find Taichi, Sora, and Izumi there along with three small digimon. "That...was surprisingly easy," Jou panted, hands on his knees as he tried to catch his breath.

"Guess we're lucky," Jun grinned.

"I've never been lucky," he frowned, adjusting his glasses.

"You guys too?" Taichi asked.

"Taichi-nii," Daisuke smiled when he heard the older boy's voice.

"Yeah, we're all here too," Yamato said.

"No, I meant those creatures with all of you," Taichi replied.

"Oh, yeah well..." he shrugged.

"They're popping up everywhere. Just what are they?" Jou asked.

"We're digimon: digital monsters," the eight digimon replied in perfect unison. It was kind of impressive.

"Digital monsters?" Taichi repeated.

The digimon proceeded to all introduce themselves. Taichi's partner was Koromon who looked like a pink head with long ears and red eyes. Sora's partner was Pyocomon. She looked like a pink flower bulb with a blue flower sprouting from the top and several roots for feet. Izumi's partner was Motimon, a pink blob with two arms that each had three short claws, dark eyes, and a cat like smile.

"It's a pleasure to meet all of you," Taichi stated once the digimon were finished. "I'm Yagami Taichi. I'm a sixth grade student at Odaiba Elementary. Sora and Yamato are also in sixth grade."

"I'm Takenouchi Sora. How do you do?" she smiled with her hands clasped behind her back.

"Ishida Yamato," he stated simply, stuffing his hands into the pockets of his jeans.

"Jun's actually in her first year of junior high even if she looks more like a fifth grader," Taichi snickered.

"Motomiya Jun, I attend Odaiba Junior High School," she smiled at the digimon. "And I don't appreciate your short jokes, Taichi. You're only taller than me thanks to your ridiculous hair," Jun huffed.

"It's not ridiculous," Taichi grumbled. "And I've got at least an inch or two on you even without counting hair." Jun placed her hands on her hips and tilted her head to the side, expression unimpressed. "We can measure if you don't believe me. I'm totally taller than you!" he took a step towards the girl.

"You can argue latter. We're in the middle of introductions," Sora cut in. "Jou-sempai's also in junior high."

"Hello, I'm Kido Jou. Jun-chan and I are classmates."

"And Izumi's in fifth grade," Taichi picked things up again.

"I'm Izumi Koushiro," the red head stated.

"Daisuke's in third grade, but he goes to a different school. Him and Jun are siblings if you couldn't tell," Taichi told the digimon.

"Hi, I'm Motomiya Daisuke. I go to Yukimura's School for the Blind," the burgundy haired boy rocked his weight from his toes to his heels as he spoke.

"And lastly this is, uh..." Taichi trailed as he looked at the young blond boy he had only met for the first time that day.

"Takeru. I'm Takaishi Takeru. I'm in third grade like Daisuke-kun, and I also go to a different school but that's because I live in Setagaya."

"Well then, that's everyone, right?" Taichi clasped his hands together.

"Wait, we're still missing one," Jun pointed out.

"Yeah, the girl with the pink hat isn't here," Sora nodded.

"Mimi-san! Tachikawa Mimi-san is missing!" Koushiro exclaimed. She was in the same class as him.

"That's right, Mimi-kun from fifth grade. I had something I needed to give her," Jou stated.

Daisuke gasped when he heard a high pitched scream. "Come on," Taichi shouted. They all ran in the direction that Mimi's screaming was coming from. They did not have to go far before they burst through the underbrush and into a large clearing.

"Mimi-chan!" Jun called when the younger girl, with a small digimon at her side, ran out of the trees at the other side of the clearing.

"Mimi-kun, we're here," Jou shouted. Sora started to wave, but her hand froze when a couple of the trees behind Mimi were knocked down.

"What's that?" Daisuke asked, referring to the loud roaring that filled the air.

"It's that big bug again," Taichi stated. A giant, red beetle broke through the canopy and flew towards them.

"Kuwagamon!" Chibimon exclaimed. They all ducked and Kuwagamon flew right over their heads causing a gust of wind that pulled at their clothes and hair. Jun looked over her shoulder to see the giant digimon flying off in the direction they had come from.

"Are you alright, Mimi?" the digimon who was with Mimi asked. She looked like a green plant bulb with two long leaves growing from the top and four stubby legs to get around on.

"Oh Tanemon," the ten year old cried.

"We need to move," Sora knelt beside Mimi and laid a hand on her shoulder.

"Sora-san," Mimi murmured.

"He's coming back!" Taichi exclaimed.

"Run!" Jun shouted and they did just that. The twelve year old kept her arm wrapped around her brother's back holding him under his arm. Daisuke was gripping the hem of her shirt as she half carried him as they ran.

"Get down!" Yamato shouted. Jun fell to the ground pulling Daisuke with her. They all got down just in time for Kuwagamon to fly over head. He then knocked down several tree branches as he flew off again.

"Will this nightmare never end?" Jou cried, flinching when a broken branch landed on the ground next him. Daisuke pushed himself up so that he was no longer laying in the dirt but sitting on his knees.

"Are you alright?" Chibimon asked. The little boy licked his lips before attempting to speak.

"I'm..." he trailed, tilting his head to the side and listening. Instead of getting softer as he went further away Kuwagamon's roaring was getting louder. That only meant one thing. "He's coming back!"

"Damn," Taichi cursed as he stood up. "I'm done running!"

"What else can we do?" Sora asked as she helped Mimi up.

"We have nothing to defend ourselves with. We can't fight that thing," Yamato stated from where he was crouched beside Takeru.

"We can do nothing but run," Koushiro pushed himself up from his knees to his feet.

"Let's go," Jun guided Daisuke forward. The others were all willing to follow, but Taichi was still glaring at the spot they had last seen Kuwagamon. "Don't be an idiot, Taichi, move," Jun shoved his shoulder with the palm of her hand. The eleven year old grit his teeth. He hated running. He hated that it made him feel weak, helpless.

"Taichi-nii?" Daisuke called, worried that the older boy wouldn't come with them.

"I'm coming," Taichi sighed.

They all started running when they heard Kuwagamon crashing through the trees behind them. Taichi quickened his pace and fell into step beside Jun and Daisuke. He laid his hand on the little boy's back. After a couple minutes of running they burst out of the trees only to come to a skidding halt as they were greeted by the edge of a cliff. Taichi walked out onto a platform of rock that jutted out from the main cliff face. He crouched at the edge and looked down. There was a river directly below them and more forest around it, he could also see the ocean in the distance, but all of that was a very long way down and the cliff face was sheer with no clear path down.

Taichi hung his head for a moment before turning back to the others, "It's a dead-end. We've got to find another way."

"A...another way?" Sora repeated. The trees behind them began to shake, and they all dove to the ground right as Kuwagamon broke through the trees. Taichi ducked and Kuwagamon flew over him. The giant digimon circled back around and flew right towards the eleven year old. Taichi scrambled to his feet and ran away from Kuwagamon, but the digimon was quickly gaining.

"Taichi!" Koromon leapt over the boy's shoulder and straight towards Kuwagamon. The little pink digimon spit bubbles at the creature. Kuwagamon roared and his flying went slightly unsteady. He missed Taichi, but Koromon struck the back of his shell covered head before hitting the ground.

"Koromon!" Taichi shouted. He heard the others screaming and turned around to see Kuwagamon going for them now. "No!"

The rest of the digimon leapt at Kuwagamon and spit pink bubbles into his eyes. They all hit his shell before hitting the ground. Kuwagamon roared as he crashed back into the trees. "Pyocomon," Sora shouted. Jun looked up from where she was knelt on the ground shielding her little brother. Her eyes widened and she took a sharp breath when she saw all the digimon laying limp on the ground. She and the others all got to their feet and rushed towards the digimon.

"Chibimon?" Daisuke called, standing still as he held onto Jun's hand.  
"Dais..." the weak response came from a bit to his left. The little boy let go of his sister's hand and knelt down.

"Chibimon," Daisuke used his hands to feel for the little dragon as he crawled towards where he heard Chibimon's voice. His hand brushed against the digimon's warm skin and he pulled him onto his lap. "You're hurt?" he asked, naked concern in his voice.

"I'll be fine," Chibimon's voice was quiet and laced with pain.

"You don't sound fine," Daisuke stated as he hugged the digimon.

Once her brother let go of her hand Jun knelt down and picked up Moonmon. "What were you thinking doing something like that?" she used her thumb to brush away a smudge of dirt that was above the small digimon's right eye.

"I couldn't let that monster hurt you," Moonmon stated.

"Oh Moonmon," Jun murmured, touched but also confused by the small digimon's devotion. A loud roar caught her attention, and she turned around just in time to see Kuwagamon crash through the trees. "Seriously?" she exclaimed. She held Moonmon in her arms as she rushed towards Daisuke and Chibimon. "Stubborn bug just can't take a hint," she grabbed her brother's hand and ran towards where Taichi and the others were gathered at the edge of the cliff.

"I was hoping we'd seen the last of him," Sora commented.

"Me too, guess he had other plans," Taichi replied. Kuwagamon slowly walked towards them, the ground trembling with each step he took, effectively cutting off any possibly paths of escape. They had a monster bug in front of them and a long drop at their backs. "This looks bad. Anybody got any bright ideas? 'Cause now's the time to share them."

"We fight," Koromon stated.

"What?" Taichi looked down at the digimon in his hands.

"It's the only way. We've got to stand and fight!" Koromon stated.

"We've already been over why that's not a bright idea," Taichi exclaimed.

"No, Koromon's right. It's time we fight," Motimon agreed.

"Wait" Koushiro shouted as he struggled to hold onto the squirming digimon.

"They're right," Pyocomon stated.

"No way! It's hopeless; he's too powerful. You're no match for him," Sora protested.

"Maybe alone but together we can squash this bug!" Chibimon exclaimed.

"Are you sure? He sounds awfully big," Daisuke hugged the little digimon to his chest.

"We must try," Moonmon stated. Jun bit her lip, because really, what other options did they have? Kuwagamon had corned them. There was nowhere left to run. It was fight or die.

"This is so stupid!" she raged.

"We can do it! Let me go!" Tsunomon struggled to get out of Yamato's arms.

Yes, we can do it!" Tokomon agreed his dozens of razor like teeth barred as he tried to jump out of Takeru's arms.

"Together we can do this," Pukamon tried to fly but Jou had his arms wrapped around him.

"You too, Tanemon?" Mimi asked. Tanemon nodded.

"Let's go!" Koromon shouted, leaping out of Taichi's arms. The other digimon were quick to follow.

"Chibimon, wait!" Daisuke ran after the little digimon.

"Daisuke, don't!" Jun grabbed him around the waist and held him back.

"We have to help them, Nee-chan! We can't let that monster hurt them," Daisuke cried.

"They'll be fine," Jun stated. 'Please don't make me a liar,' she begged silently as she watched Moonmon fly towards Kuwagamon. The others all pleaded for the digimon to come back, but none of them halted in their charge.

"Koromon!" Taichi shouted as he ran after the digimon. It was at that moment that the strange devices all of the children had gotten lit up, dark clouds formed overhead, and from them nine pillars of rainbow light descended one covering each of the digimon.

"Koromon digivolve to...Agumon!" Koromon had transformed into a small – reaching around Taichi's chest in height – Tyrannosaurus. He had bright green eyes and three claws on each of his hands and feet

"Pyocomon digivolve to...Piyomon!" Piyomon was a large, pink bird. The feathers along the crown of her head were blue tipped as were her tail feathers. Her eyes were blue like the sky on a clear day, and she had a metal ring around her left ankle.

"Motimon digivolve to...Tentomon!" Motimon had changed into a large, robotic ladybug with two orange, wavy antenna extending from his head and big lime green eyes.

"Tsunomon digivolve to...Gabumon!" Gabumon was a yellow, reptilian digimon that was wearing a light blue pelt with dark blue stripes. He had a foot long horn sticking out of his forehead and red eyes.

"Moonmon digivolve to...Lunamon!" Moonmon had transformed into a white, bipedal rabbit that reached about Jun's waist in height. She was clad in a white, flowing dress with three yellow crescent moons on it – one on the stomach and one on both arms. She had a large, pink ribbon wrapped around her shoulders and crossing in front of her chest. It was held in place by a metal pin with a moon engraved on it. There was an antenna extending from her forehead. It started white but then faded into a dark blue. Her eyes were a rosy pink, and she had four rabbit ears – a pair that stuck up and a pair that flopped. All of them were stripped blue.

"Tokomon digivolve to...Patamon!" Patamon was a small four legged creature that roughly resembled a pig in shape. He was mostly orange with a cream underbelly. He had long ears that looked like they could also serve as wings.

"Chibimon digivolve to...V-mon!" Chibimon had become a larger dragon, about the same height as Daisuke. He was blue with a white muzzle and stomach. He had five fingered hands and three claws on his feet. There was a yellow 'V' on his forehead and yellow triangles under each of his red eyes.

"Pukamon digivolve to...Gomamon!" Pukamon had changed into a white seal with purple markings. He had an orange mohawk, light green eyes, and a cat like mouth.

"Tanemon digivolve to...Palmon!" Tanemon had become a bipedal, plant creature. She was mostly light green with a pink hibiscus with a yellow center growing out of the top of her head. Her leaf like arms ended in three claw like vines, and she had roots instead of toes.

"Wh...what just happened?" Daisuke asked.

"The digimon appear to have undergone some form of metamorphosis," Koushiro answered.

"They changed. They're..." Jun started to explain.

"Bigger," Taichi finished.

"Let's go, guys!" Agumon shouted. The newly digivolved digimon all lunged at Kuwagamon. The giant beetle knocked them back using two of his four arms. "You'll have to do better than that," the dinosaur stated as he got back to his feet. Kuwagamon started to fly into the air but only made it a couple feet off the ground before he was stopped.

"Poison ivy!" Palmon called, the vines she had for fingers grew longer and wrapped around Kuwagamon's right ankle. Patamon flew so that he was in the air a little above the giant digimon's head.

"Air shot!" he fired a strong gust of air from his mouth. The attack smacked into the top of Kuwagamon's head. Lunamon floated, the hem of her dress rippling, into the air next to Patamon.

"Tear shot!" the rabbit digimon called. The antenna on her forehead glowed blue and then a sphere of water shot from it and hit Kuwagamon on the head.

"Petit thunder!" Tentomon flew in front of Kuwagamon and generated a bolt of electricity with his wings and fired it. Kuwagamon cried out in pain as he was violently electrocuted – water and electricity were a bad combination or good if whoever was being electrocuted was trying to kill you – and landed unsteadily on the ground.

"V-mon head!" the dragon charged forward and rammed into Kuwagamon's gut. The giant digimon stumbled back. Gomamon rolled under one of his feet, tripping him before he could regain his balance. Kuwagamon collapsed to his knees.

"Stand back everyone," Agumon instructed. The other digimon all gathered around him. "Baby flame!" he shot a sphere of orange and yellow flames at Kuwagamon.

"Petit fire!" Gabumon shot a stream of blue flames from his mouth.

"Magical fire!" Piyomon conjured a tornado of green flames. All three fire attacks hit Kuwagamon and the shell covering the back of his head was set aflame. Kuwagamon threw back his head and roared.

"All together now," Agumon instructed, and all of the digimon fired their attacks at the giant beetle. Kuwagamon screeched as his chest burst into flames. He tipped backwards and fell into the trees with a thunderous thud.

The children all stared in awe. "They...won?" Daisuke asked hopefully.

"They did," Taichi answered, awestruck.

"Taichi!" Agumon called as he and the other digimon ran towards the children.

"They did!" Taichi beamed. He ran towards the dinosaur and caught him when he jumped into his arms. "Koromon or Agumon or whoever you are you did it! You did it! You did it!"

"I knew we could do it, Daishuke," V-mon grinned as he wrapped his arms around the eight year old.

"C...Chibimon?" Daisuke mumbled, confused.

"You were amazing, Lunamon!" Jun beamed as the rabbit digimon floated towards her.

"You really mean that?" Lunamon's rosy eyes widened and her cheeks colored.

"Most amazing thing ever," the twelve year old nodded.

"You're so kind!" Lunamon cried, throwing herself at Jun. The girl stumbled back a step before catching her balance. She laughed as she returned the hug.

"Look out!" Sora exclaimed as she pointed towards the trees. Taichi turned around to see that Kuwagamon had gotten up and was coming after them again. He and Agumon scrambled out of the way right before Kuwagamon's giant pinchers pierced through the rocky ground where they had been standing. The ground cracked and the part of the cliff the children and digimon were standing on started to fall backwards. Jun cursed as she fell onto the tilting ground and slid backwards on the smooth stone.

"Hold on!" Lunamon grabbed onto the girl's arm. Jun grit her teeth as the fingers of her other hand caught on a small ridge and her right leg had found a foothold on a protruding rock.

"Nee-chan!" Daisuke cried. The ground was nearly vertical and he could not find any foot or handholds. The only thing stopping him from sliding down was V-mon's arm wrapped around him.

"Daisuke!" Jun shouted. With Lunamon's help she pushed off the falling rock and lunged for her brother. "I got you," she wrapped her arms around him and then they were air born, but at the speed they were falling that wouldn't be the case for long.


	3. Explosive Digivolution: Greymon is Born!

**Would have had this chapter up sooner but my freakin' internet went down. Anyways, thank you to everyone who has taken an interest in this story. I hope you enjoy this chapter. It's the longest one so far :).**

CHAPTER 3: Explosive Digivolution: Greymon is Born!

"Sora!"

"Koushiro-han!"

"Takeru!"

"Jun!"

The four digimon who were able to fly tried to catch their partners. Piyomon, Tentomon, and Patamon were able to stop their descent for a moment before the weight of the children became too much and they were dragged down with them. Lunamon gripped Jun under the arms but since the twelve year old was also holding onto Daisuke and V-mon she could not even slow their descent.

Daisuke screamed as they dropped crushing V-mon – Chibimon? – to his chest. The wind whipped through his hair and roared in his ears. His heart seemed to have taken up residency in his throat and was pumping fear as well as blood. He had no idea how close to hitting the ground they were or what waited for them upon impact – nest of pillows or jagged rocks? From the screams of the others he assumed it was something closer to the latter.

His scream hitched in his throat when he landed on something squirming and bouncy. He bounced a couple times before coming to a stop half laying on top of V-mon. Jun was laying next to him arms still wrapped around his abdomen. Whatever they were on rocked several times and the others stopped screaming. He assumed they had landed on the...boat? He could heard running water and they were moving...as well. The eight year old felt whatever he was laying on. Smooth round scales, flickering fins, expand and fall of breathing, a small gap, droplets of water misted his hand, then another body, rougher scales, larger fins, and quicker breathing. "Fish?"

"Yeah," Jun let go of him and sat up.

"Some ride, huh?" Taichi chuckled.

"Guys, look!" Yamato pointed up towards the cliff. Jun looked, she took a sharp breath her eyes widening. A section of the cliff above them had broken and Kuwagamon was falling towards the river along with a giant boulder.

"Hurry!" Gomamon shouted. The fish swam faster but they were still caught in the giant wave that Kuwagamon and the boulder caused when they hit the water. The children all screamed and held onto the slippery fish as best they could as they were swept down river. Personally Jun was amazed none of them fell off. Takeru almost did, slipping half off the back of the fish raft. Luckily Yamato got a hold of his brother's backpack before he went under and pulled him up.

A couple minutes latter the river had slowed down, and Gomamon directed the fish to the shore. "We're getting off," Jun laid a hand on Daisuke shoulder. The raft rocked as the children and digimon all clamored off. The little boy crawled off the fish and rolled onto his back on the shore.

"Thank you, fish," he patted the fish that had carried them to safety. He might of whacked one in the eye. Oops.

"Yeah, thanks guys. I'll see you latter," Gomamon grinned and with that the fish all swam off. Daisuke didn't move his hand. Letting it float in the slowly moving water. It was relaxing and helped calm his racing heart.

"Now that was exciting...let's not do it again," the eight year old commented.

"I can agree with that," Jun sat down next to him. The others had all sat down as well.

"Wh...what was that? Those fish?" Jou sounded rather frazzled laying on his stomach on the shore.

"They were my marching fishes," Gomamon answered.

"What?" Jou sat up and fixed his glasses.

"I can communicate with fish. Those fish are good friends of mine, so I just asked them to give us a lift."

"So we were saved because of you. Thank you, Pukamon!" Jou beamed. "Um, uh, I guess it's not Pukamon anymore?" Jou scratched his cheek.

"It's Gomamon now," the seal digimon wagged his tail.

"Gomamon," Jou repeated, committing the new name to memory.

"What happened to Chibimon?" Daisuke sat up as he asked the question.

"I'm V-mon now," his voice was still youthful but he sounded considerably older.

"You're different, older," the little boy's nose crinkled.

"That's because I'm stronger," the dragon stated.

"But you're still...you?" he tilted his head to the side with a slight pout.

"Still me, Daishuke," V-mon reassured. He had a slight lisp. It was most prominent in how he pronounced Daisuke's name.

"And I guess you're not Tokomon now are you?" Takeru leaned over as he studied the orange digimon.

"Now I'm Patamon," he flapped his ears that looked more like bat wings except for the coloring and placement.

"It's because we all digivolved," Agumon stated.

"Digivolve," Taichi repeated. "I don't think I've heard that word before."

"So digivolving is what happens when digimon undergo a physical metamorphosis to become more powerful," Koushiro mused.

"That's right!" Tentomon pointed at the ten year old. "I was Motimon but now I am Tentomon."

"I digivolved from Pyocomon to Piyomon," the pink bird told Sora. The girl's mouth hung open a bit as she listened. This was all so strange and happening so fast.

"First I was Tsunomon then I was Gabumon," the reptilian digimon told Yamato. The blond boy started slightly not having noticed when Gabumon came to stand beside him. For one of the larger digimon of the group he was surprisingly light on his feet.

"I was Moonmon when we first met but now I'm Lunamon," the rabbit digimon floated next to Jun. The magenta haired girl looked at Lunamon as she spoke. She watched the rabbit digimon bob up and down in the air. Floating with the same jellyfish like movements that Moonmon had.

"I changed from Tanemon to Palmon," the plant digimon grinned. Mimi crouched on the ground beside her, head resting on her hands, she was staring blankly at a pebble embedded in the dirt a couple feet in front of her. She was only half listening to what was being said. She was so tired.

"And me," the dinosaur digimon pointed at himself. "I was Koromon. I digivolved to Agumon."

Taichi hummed as he laced his fingers behind his head. "Digivolving seems to have made you all a lot stronger, but you're still digimon right, or are you something different now?"

"Digimon but I couldn't have done it without you, Taichi," Agumon smiled.

"Me? What for?" his dark brown eyes widened.

"I couldn't digivolve by myself. I could only do it because you were with me. You gave me the power that I needed," Agumon explained happily.

"Huh?" Taichi tilted his head to the side, not really understanding.

"Was it the same for you, Piyomon?" Sora crouched down so that she was closer to eye level with the digimon.

"Sure was," she chirped.

"Lunamon?" Jun turned to look at the rabbit digimon.

"All thanks to you," she clasped her paws in front of her chest and looking at Jun with adoration shinning in her rosy eyes.

"Well I'm pretty sure not all of it," Jun ran a hand through her short hair, cheeks coloring. "You're the one who actually fought Kuwagamon, and you were amazing! Really taught that stupid bug a lesson!"

"Jun! I'm so glad I met you!" Lunamon leapt at the girl and wrapped her arms around her middle. Jun only hesitated for a moment to return the hug.

"Was it the same for all of you?" Koushiro turned to Tentomon.

"That's right," he answered.

"Thanks for my magical powers," Palmon beamed as she twirled around.

"I don't even know what I did," Mimi sighed.

"Will you ever be Tokomon again?" Takeru asked.

"I don't know. Maybe not," Patamon's ear wings fluttered.

"So I helped you become stronger?" Daisuke questioned.

"That's right. Pretty amazing huh?" V-mon grinned.

"I'll say," the eight year old giggled.

"This is all very confusing. I'm not sure I understand," Jou frowned, crossing his arms over his chest.

"To tell you truth we don't understand all of it either," Gomamon confessed. The twelve year old grimaced. That's wasn't very reassuring.

"So what are we going to do now?" Yamato placed one hand on his hip as he addressed the group.

"Let's go back to where we were. If we wait there the counselors are sure to find us," Jou suggested.

"That's easier said than done," Taichi and the others all turned to look at the cliff they had fallen off.

"We've come so far," Sora commented.

"Climbing up that cliff would be a major job," Yamato stated.

"And really dangerous without climbing equipment," Jun pointed out. Yamato glanced to where Takeru had sat down with Daisuke, Patamon, and V-mon. If it was just him he might be willing to take the risk, but with his little brother here it was too much of a chance. He met Jun's gaze and nodded in both agreement and understanding.

"Well do any of you have any ideas?" Jou demanded, a bit put out at having his suggestion immediately shot down.

"Nee-chan," Daisuke called. Jun hummed so that he knew he had her attention. "Can't you call Kaa-chan, or did you loose your phone again? I think Kaa-chan will understand if you did. Running from a monster bug is a pretty good excuse."

"I didn't loose it," Jun snapped even as she placed her hand on her skirt pocket just to make sure. She had lost her last phone and her mother had not been upset she had been _disappointed._ Which was much worse. She'd had her current phone for almost two year and had not only not lost it but also kept it in peak condition. "And I already tried that. My phone's not working."

"Mine's not either. Neither are my laptop or camera. None of them will even turn, but the batteries should still be good," Koushiro commented.

"That's no good," Daisuke pouted.

"Cheer up, Daishuke," V-mon beamed, bumping his shoulder against Daisuke's. "We'll figure something out."

"Or the others will," the little boy giggled.

"Does anyone have any idea where we are now?" Yamato asked.

"Not close to the campsite," Jun snorted.

"You're right. The plants look subtropical," Koushiro turned his gaze to the forest surrounding them.

"They really do!" Tentomon exclaimed.

"You noticed too?" the red head gasped.

"No," Tentomon answered. Koushiro sighed and hung his head.

"We could look for another path to get back to where we were. One that doesn't include climbing up that cliff. There's got to be a way back. There's got to be," Jou insisted.

"Jou-sempai's got a point," Sora stated. "If we did make it back there we might be able to find some clues as to how we ended up here in the first place."

"Wait, are there more monsters around like that big, flying beetle?" Mimi asked.

"Yes indeed," Palmon answered.

"Ick," Mimi cringed.

"I don't think we should take the risk," Yamato stated.

"We're lucky none of us were hurt by Kuwagamon. We cut it real close," Jun nodded.

"Are there any humans around here?" Taichi asked Agumon.

"Humans? You mean others like you?" the digimon specified.

"Yeah," Taichi nodded.

"We've never seen any before you guys. There's never been anything but digimon," Agumon answered.

"Only digimon but you all look so different," the boy looked around at the present digimon. Were they really all one species?

"You said this is File Island right?" Sora asked.

"I don't remember hearing that," Jun commented.

"Motimon told us before we met up with you," Koushiro replied.

"Is it really an island?" Yamato asked.

"I don't recall ever hearing the name before," Koushiro crossed his arms over his chest with a frown. If he could get internet access on his laptop or phone he could look it up and not only find out if it was an actual island but also figure out its location. Of course he couldn't even get those devices to turn on right now.

"You mean we're not in Japan anymore?" Jou nervously wrung his hands around the strap of his bag.

"I've never heard of anything like the digimon being found in Japan," Jun replied.

"Well we're not going to figure out anything sitting around here," Taichi stated before walking off.

"Hey, where do you think you're going?" Yamato demanded.

"I think I saw the ocean," Taichi glanced over his shoulder as he spoke.

"The ocean?" Yamato repeated.

"Yep, let's go find it," Taichi started walking again.

"Alright, it's worth a shot," Yamato glanced at the others. Sora nodded in agreement.

"Better than talking in circles," Jun stated. "Daisuke, we're going," she turned to her brother. The little boy nodded as he stood up.

"Do you want to hold my arm? I'm big enough to lead you now," V-mon offered eagerly.

"Sure," Daisuke beamed as he held out his left hand. The digimon helped him find his arm and the little boy adjusted his grip before they started walking.

"At times like this the best thing to do is to stay in one place and wait for help," Jou stated not noticing that the others were already walking away.

"Jou!" Gomamon called. "Everyone's leaving us."

"Ah, wait for me!" the boy ran after the others.

The group of children and digimon walked alongside the river with Taichi and Agumon at the front and Jou at the rear. Gomamon was swimming in the river. Jun was walking a couple feet behind Daisuke who was walking with Takeru and their digimon. "These trees are beautiful, but I don't know what they are," Sora commented.

"Yeah, I just thought they were subtropical, but upon closer inspection I must admit that I appear to have been mistaken," Koushiro replied.

"They really are strange," Jou frowned, eyeing the surrounding trees wearily. "Maybe we aren't in Japan."

"The strangest thing about all this is the digimon," Yamato stated.

"Strange?" Gabumon looked up at him.

"Digimon...digital monsters as in electronic monsters?" Koushiro wondered.

"You can just call us digimon," Tentomon replied.

"I only bring it up because you don't look at all digital or electronic to me," the ten year old stated.

"If you want electric I can do that," Tentomon created a ball of electricity with his wings.

"Hey, watch it!" Koushiro shielded his face with his arms.

"You were flying earlier weren't you, Patamon?" Takeru asked.

"Yes, I can fly. look!" the digimon jumped into the air and beat his bat like wings.

"Wow, that so cool," Takeru beamed. "But wouldn't walking be faster," he pointed out as the digimon fell behind despite him not quickening his pace.

"I can fly faster. Watch!" Piyomon leapt into the air. She quickly fell behind so that she was flying in the air beside Patamon.

"There isn't really a difference between you," Sora stated.

"No way?" Piyomon cried.

"I think you're the fastest flier, Lunamon," Jun turned to the digimon who was bobbing in the air beside her.

"Really?" Lunamon's eyes widened.

"Well you're keeping up with me aren't you?" the twelve year old smiled. "How is it that you're flying anyways? You don't have any wings."

"I'm not really sure. I just...float," she answered.

"Palmon, that flower on your head is really pretty. Is it real?" Mimi asked.

"It sure is! I can even perform photosynthesis," she grinned.

"That's amazing! Show me," Mimi clapped her hands.

"Mimi, do you know what photosynthesis is?" the plant digimon asked.

"I'm not sure I do. What is it?" she replied.

"Well, I'm not sure I know either," Palmon flushed.

"You're really warm, V-mon. If I was that warm it'd mean I was sick," Daisuke held V-mon's arm as they walked.

"I'm not sick. I'm super healthy! I'm warm because I'm a dragon," the digimon explained.

"Wow!" the little boy's face lite up. "A dragon? Really?"

"That's right," V-mon nodded.

"That's so awesome! A dragon!" Daisuke giggled, bouncing on his feet and pumping his free fist in the air. V-mon grinned, chest puffing with pride. "Can you fly? Can you breath fire? Do you hoard gold?"

"Ah well...no," V-mon looked down, scratching his cheek with his free hand. He did not want to disappoint Daisuke. "But when I digivolve again I'm sure I will...except hoard gold. Why would I want to do that?"

"It's what Smaug does, but he's not really a good role model," Daisuke shrugged. "You think you'll digivolve again?"

"Sure, I've got to keep getting stronger, so I can protect you."

"You said there are only digimon here right?" Taichi asked.

"Right," Agumon answered.

"So that Kuwagamon was a digimon?" the boy turned his head to look at the digimon as they continued to walk.

"Yes," the dinosaur nodded.

"He sure was huge," Koushiro's brow creased as he frowned at the ground in front of him. "Are there others like him?"

"There sure are," Tentomon replied.

"Wonderful," Jun commented dryly.

Gabumon paused to sniff the air before speaking, "I think I smell the ocean."

"And I can see it! The ocean!" Gomamon beamed.

"Let's build a giant sand castle, Daisuke-kun," Takeru grabbed the other boy's free hand and started running towards the beach.

"Yeah, one that's big enough to live in," Daisuke grinned.

"Oh, I don't have my bathing suit," Mimi pouted. Her dress was an older one so she wasn't too worried about it getting ruined, but the shin length dress would become horribly waterlogged if she tried to swim in it.

"Wait a minute," Yamato called. Takeru stopped running, Daisuke bumped into him, and looked back at his brother. "Listen." A ringing had filled the air. "Do you hear that?"

"A telephone," Daisuke nodded.

"What's a telephone doing out here?" Sora frowned.

"Only one way to find out," Taichi replied.

They all ran in the direction of the ringing. They found the source in a line of telephone booths on the beach. The ringing was coming from the phone in the one closest to them. Taichi slid open the glass door of the booth only for the ringing to immediately stop. The eleven year old frowned. That was strange timing. "What's wrong, Taichi?" Agumon asked.

"It stopped ringing."

"That's bizarre," Sora commented.

"It's irrational!" Koushiro raged. Daisuke felt along the glass wall, found the doorway, and slipped inside along with V-mon.

"It's just a phone booth," the little boy picked up the phone and turned it over in his hands. Yeah, the placement was strange, but Koushiro's reaction seemed a bit melodramatic. "Right? It's not like glowing or something?"

"No glowing or anything. It looks just like the ones back home," Yamato answered.

"A whole row of them," Jun added.

"Do you know what this means?" Jou exclaimed, catching everyone's attention. "We're still in Japan!"

"Japan? What's that, Jou?" Gomamon asked. The twelve year old stared at the digimon for a moment before turning to the others with a grim expression.

"Or maybe we're not."

"Does anybody have any loose change?" Taichi asked.

"Whatever for?" Koushiro replied.

"What do you think I'm going to do? I'm gonna call for help."

"Ah," Koushiro's dark eyes lite with understanding. "In that case here's my phone card," he pulled the card out of his pocket and handed it to Taichi. The eleven year old nodded to him in thanks before stepping into the phone booth.

"Move over a bit," he laid a hand on Daisuke's shoulder.

"Who are you gonna call? The police, the fire department, the national guard?" the little boy shuffled out of the booth along with V-mon.

"I was gonna call my apartment," Taichi answered as he held the phone. Maybe he should call the police, but they might think it was just a prank call.

"Maybe there's a quarter in one of the slots," Takeru ran off to go check.

"I'm calling Tou-chan," Mimi stated.

"I think I'll make a call as well," Koushiro walked behind them.

"Hey, Takeru," Yamato ran after his brother.

"Me too," Sora exclaimed.

"Guys wait! There aren't enough booths for all of us to try at once," Jou pointed out as he followed after them

"Jun-neechan, are you gonna call Kaa-chan?" Daisuke asked.

"When Taichi's done making his call." All the other phones were already being used by one of the others. The little boy hummed as he plopped down in the sand outside the booth. He ran his hands through the warm grains, picking up a handful and letting it slip through his fingers.

"Might not be worth your money," Taichi slipped out of the phone booth.

"What do you mean?" Jun asked.

"I know I dialed the right number but the lady who picked up certainly wasn't my mom and she was talking nonsense," he ran a hand through his wild hair.

"That's creepy," Jun frowned. "Let me borrow Koushiro-kun's phone card."

"Sure," Taichi handed her the card. "I'm gonna check with the others. See if they're having any luck getting through to someone."

Jun slipped into the booth and dialed her mother's cell phone number. "I wanna talk to Kaa-chan," Daisuke tugged on her sleeve.

"Sure, but let me talk to her first," Jun replied. "Now shh."

"You shush," her little brother pouted. She rolled her eyes.

"I'm rolling my eyes," she told him.

" _You're out of range of radio..."_

"Well I'm-" Daisuke began.

"Quiet!" Jun placed her hand over his mouth.

" _...ultrasonic waves. Hang up and don't call again,_ " a warbling female voice stated before the line went dead.

"What?" Jun mumbled, frowning at the phone. "Ew!" she pulled her hand away from Daisuke's mouth when the little boy licked her palm. "That's so gross, Daisuke!" she wiped her hand on his sleeve. He stuck his tongue out at her.

"Did Kaa-chan not pick up?" he asked seriously.

"No, it was...I know I dialed the right number...I think there's something wrong with this phone," she shook her head as she set the phone down.

"Why don't you try one of the others," Lunamon suggested.

"Good idea," Jun nodded. The rabbit digimon beamed. Floating beside the girl as they, along with Daisuke and V-mon, walked to the phone booth next to them.

"Jun-sempai," Mimi smiled when she saw the older girl walking towards her. "What would be appropriate clothing for ice cream rain?"

"Uh...why?" Jun's brow furrowed.

"The lady on the phone told me that's tomorrow's forecast," the ten year old explained.

"You should wear a bowl on your head," Daisuke stated.

"I don't think that would be very stylish. In fact, I think I'd look quite silly if I did that," Mimi frowned.

"Who cares? You'd catch a bunch of ice cream to eat," the eight year old grinned.

"I could just set out bowls to do that. No need to wear them," Mimi pointed out.

Jun left them to their conversation and went to check on Yamato and Takeru at the next booth. She saw Yamato hang up the phone with a frown. "I guess you're not having any luck either," she commented.

"I've tried a couple numbers but it's always the same," Yamato shook his head.

"This is boring. I'm going to go play with Daisuke-kun," Takeru stated.

"It's not..." Yamato began but his brother had already run off.

"Wait for me!" Patamon flew after his partner.

Jun chuckled as she walked towards the next booth. Koushiro, Tentomon, and Taichi were at it. "Hey," she held the phone card out to Koushiro.

"Oh, thank you, Jun-sempai," the ten year old turned away from his conversation with Taichi and smiled at her as he took the card.

"You get anything?" Taichi asked.

"Just crazy stuff," she leaned against the booth and crossed her arms over her chest. "Koushiro-kun?"

"Same, I don't understand it," he shook his head with a frown.

"Why don't you try another phone?" Tentomon pointed at the phone booth Sora and Piyomon were at.

"I don't think it's any better," the bird digimon told them.

"Any luck?" Taichi walked towards Sora as she hung up the phone.

"None," she huffed.

"Weird, I've got a strange feeling about this," Taichi commented.

Giggling caught their attention and they looked over to see Daisuke, Takeru, Mimi, and several of the digimon building a sand castle a little further up the beach. Yamato was kind of awkwardly hovering nearby. Taichi jogged towards them. "Why wasn't I invited?" he cried, tone coated in false hurt.

"Taichi-nii, I invite you to help us make the coolest sand castle ever," Daisuke was able to keep his expression completely serious while he spoke, but started giggling a couple seconds latter.

"I'm honored," Taichi ruffled Daisuke's hair as he sat down in the sand with the rest of them.

"Not going to help?" Jun asked as she came to stand next to Yamato. The blond boy shifted his weight. Takeru had already asked him to help, but he had refused. He hadn't made a sand castle in years and it was just so...childish. Not that childish was a bad thing – Takeru was eight he was expected to be childish – and part of Yamato really _wanted_ to help but a larger part of him was made really uncomfortable by the idea of letting go like that. He watched as Taichi held a couple sticks he had picked up off the beach behind his head and made a face that had Takeru laughing and saying something he couldn't make out. Yamato was sure that if their roles were reversed that he would of looked awkward and wrong doing the same, like an actor trying to play a role he wasn't cut out for.

"No," he stated tersely. Jun frowned, seeing some of the longing in his eyes.

"Sit down with me then," she commanded, sitting down in the sand.

"What? Why?" Yamato crossed his arms over his chest.

"Because we've been going for hours and my feet are tired," Jun stated. Lunamon nodded and settled on the ground next to Jun with her head resting against the girl's arm.

"I don't see why I have to sit down too," he replied, a tad defensive.

"Because I'm a lady and I asked you to," Jun smiled playfully.

"You should always listen to what a lady says, Yamato," Gabumon commented as he walked towards them. He had been helping the others with the sand castle, but it was a bit too crowded and noisy for his tastes. Besides Yamato might get lonely without him.

"See? Gabumon knows how to be a gentleman," Jun told Yamato before turning her attention to the digimon. "Thank you, Gabumon. You are such a sweetheart," she stated theatrically though her words were genuine. Yamato huffed and plopped down in the sand next to the girl.

"Happy?" he demanded.

"Ecstatic," Jun beamed.

It was not long before everyone gave up on the phones, well everyone except Jou. "I can see that Jou-sempai's very stubborn," Koushiro watched as the older boy dialed _another_ number, by his count it was Jou's twenty-seventh attempt.

"That's Kido-kun alright," Jun smiled. Daisuke and the others had also stopped playing in the sand because they had gotten tired. The burgundy haired boy was lying on his back a couple feet from her. He was either already asleep or on the verge of it. V-mon was sitting next to him looking wide awake and bored as he ran one of his hands absently through the sand.

"No matter what number he tries all he's going to get is nonsense," Yamato stated.

"Right now those phones are our only chance of contacting home. Kido-kun's not going to give up on them that easily," Jun replied.

"Well obviously they're not going to work. Let's forget about them," Taichi stood up.

"Wait a minute," Yamato called before the other boy could walk off. "We might not be able to call out of here but isn't there a chance someone could call us?"

"The phone ringing is what lead us here," Jun pointed out.

"Sitting here waiting for a call that _might_ happen is a waste of time. We're be better off looking for another way home," Taichi stated.

"I'm not saying we'll stay here forever. Just for a little while. We could all use the rest," Yamato replied.

"If you insist upon dragging us around aimlessly you get to carry Daisuke when he drops," Jun placed her hands on her hips.

"So?" Taichi shrugged. "It's not like he's heavy. Daisuke's tiny."

"We're not just tired. I'm getting pretty hungry too," Koushiro commented.

"Me too," Jun nodded.

"And we all know how cranky you get when you're hungry," Taichi snickered.

"Taichi!" Jun glared at him.

"Alright...alright, let's take a break," he chuckled, holding his hands up in placation. "I'm pretty hungry too. Probably shouldn't of skipped breakfast."

"Idiot," Jun muttered as she shook her head.

"Is anyone else carrying any food?" Sora reached for the pink pouch strapped to her belt. "I think the only thing I have is..." she trailed as her hand found a small, light blue device clipped to her belt. "This is...? It came down from the sky," she unclipped the device from her belt and held it in the palm of her hand.

"I've still got one too," Taichi unclipped his from the waistband of his shorts.

"With everything else that happened I almost forgot about these things," Jun looked at the device clipped to the right strap of her backpack.

"Mine's attached to my purse," Mimi exclaimed.

"Mine's in my pocket," Daisuke pulled the device from his shorts' pocket and turned it over in his hands.

"I've got one too," Takeru stated.

"So everybody's got a...a whatever they are," Yamato concluded.

"They must have some sort of significance," Koushiro stated. "If I could-" he was cut off by his own stomach growling. "Anyways, we were talking about food, weren't we?" he smiled sheepishly.

"All I've got is my travel kit," Sora pulled a small bag filled with toiletries out of her pink pouch. "Got everything I need to prevent cavities but no sweets to cause them," she sighed.

"I do!" Takeru beamed. "Look at what I got," he took off his backpack and opened it to reveal that it was stuffed with junk food.

"Candy! They look so tasty," Mimi knelt beside the blond eight year old.

"Really?" Daisuke perked up at the mention of candy. "Can I have some?" the little boy blurted out before realizing that might be rude. "I mean if you have enough to share and you don't mind that is..." he amended, fiddling with the hem of his shirt.

"Of course! Do you like strawberry Pocky?" Takeru pulled out a pink box of the snacks and held them out to the other eight year old.

"They're my favorite," Daisuke clapped his hands, unaware that Takeru was trying to hand him something. The blond boy's brow furrowed in thought for a moment before he gently tapped the back of Daisuke's hand with the box.

"Here they are," he smiled.

"Thank you!" Daisuke beamed as he grasped the box.

"You can have something too, Mimi-san. Just pick whatever you want," Takeru told the older girl.

"Well aren't you the sweetest little boy," Mimi gushed as she looked through the snacks he had brought.

"I'm pretty sure I have enough for everyone to have something. Don't you think, Onii-chan?" he turned to Yamato.

"Looks like," the older boy nodded.

"He calls Yamato 'Onii-chan.' Are they brothers?" Taichi whispered to Koushiro. He had been in the same class as Yamato for a couple years but they weren't that close. He knew next to nothing about the other boy's family and was sure that Yamato knew little about his. It would not come as a surprise if Yamato did have a younger brother Taichi had never heard mention of before. There certainly was a resemblance between Yamato and Takeru, but the two did have different last names. Taichi had been mistaken – not that he minded – for Daisuke's older brother on multiple occasions because the two of them shared a passing resemblance and the little boy called him 'Taichi-nii.'

"Cousins maybe," Koushiro shrugged.

"What are those, Daishuke?" V-mon sniffed at the box in the little boy's hands. It smelled sweet and fruity.

"They're snacks. Do you want one? They're really yummy," Daisuke offered one of the Pocky sticks to the digimon.

"They certainly smell yummy," V-mon took the offered treat. He took a bite, his scarlet eyes lite up, and he promptly stuffed the rest in his mouth. "Delicious!" he wagged his tail.

"You can have another," Daisuke started to pull another Pocky stick out of the box.

"Don't gorge yourself on sweets, Daisuke. You'll make yourself sick," Jun warned.

"Aw, Nee-chan," Daisuke pouted, but he did close the barely touched box of Pocky.

"I didn't know those could make you sick. I don't want you to get sick," V-mon said, worry in his voice.

"I won't. Jun-neechan's exaggerating," Daisuke reassured. The little boy found the dragon's arm and wrapped his around it.

"What about you, Jun-sempai? Do you have any food in your backpack?" Sora asked.

"Actually I do," the magenta haired girl slipped off her backpack and set it in the sand in front of her. "I have a mostly full water bottle," she placed her pink, aluminum water bottle on the ground after giving it a shake to check how full it was. "Let's see..." she pushed aside her crocheting supplies – not taking them out because she did not want the sand to dirty the yarn – cardigan, first-aid kit and pulled out a small plastic container. "Some strawberries," she set the container down and went back to looking through her bag. "Keys, wallet, hand sanitizer, lotion, ChapStick, pocket knife, brush," Jun mumbled to herself. "Ah hah! A granola bar and a chocolate bar," she smiled as she set the two snacks on the lid of her plastic container. "It's not enough for everyone but..." she shrugged.

"It's something. All I've got is my monocular," Taichi commented.

"What do you have, Mimi-chan? Your purse is pretty big," Jun asked.

"Well, I have solid fuel, a fishing set, a compass, a flashlight, a knife with all of those things, and a few other things I don't know the name of...or purpose of," Mimi giggled as she set the contents of her bag on the ground in front of her.

"That's a regular survival kit. Why did you bring all this with you?" Yamato asked as they all stared in shock.

"It's been a really long time since I've been camping, so I borrow my Tou-chan's gear," Mimi answered. "Secretly," she added, playfully pressing her index finger to her lips.

"You don't usually bring that kind of stuff to summer camp," Taichi stated.

"Yeah, but they may come in handy now," Yamato pointed out.

"That's right, we don't know what will happen from now on," Sora hugged her knees to her chest.

"With all the strange things that have been happening it seems like nothing's impossible," Jun commented. She regarded the contents of her backpack and after a moment of consideration took her cell phone out of her skirt pocket and placed it in her bag for safe keeping and replaced it with her pocket knife.

Taichi glanced towards the phone booths. "Jou-san's still trying to make calls. I don't think he's got any-" the boy's brown eyes widened when he noticed the red cross on the flap of the large white bag Jou was carrying. "Look! Jou-san's got the emergency rations!"

"What? No way," Koushiro stood up and turned to get a look at the bag the older boy was carrying.

"Hey, Jou-san, you've got the emergency rations," Taichi called.

"Huh? Why should I have to carry them?" Jou demanded.

"You're carrying them now, Kido-kun," Jun replied. The boy blinked a couple times before his face lite with recognition.

"Yes, that's right. I brought the emergency rations' bag to give to Mimi-kun. It's her day to have it," he stated as he hung up the phone.

"They're talking about you," Palmon told the girl in question.

"Me?" Mimi blinked, having not been paying much attention to the current conversation. The waves made such a soothing sound when they crashed into the shore that she had gotten distracted listening to them.

"Mimi-kun, you were supposed to be in charge of the emergency rations," Jou jogged towards the ten year old with the bag in his arms. "They were supposed to be your responsibility, but if I hadn't seen them and picked them up they would have been left behind. You need to keep a better eye on them," he scolded.

"But they're so heavy," Mimi whined.

"You're being selfish," Jou stated.

"Calm down, guys. The important thing now is that we've got some food to eat," Taichi cut in.

"We're lucky they're here," Jun agreed as Sora nodded.

Gomamon went to swim in the ocean while the others all gathered around to work out how long they could make their food last. "Each party was given enough rations to last for three days. Mimi-kun and I were in a party of six. So six people times three meals a day times three days equals..." Jou scratched the back of his head as he tried to do the math in his head.

"Fifty-four rations," Koushiro supplied.

"Right, now we divide those between the nine of us..."

"Enough food for two days," the red headed boy answered.

"Right, right," Jou frowned. Two days, certainly they would be found by then. He glanced at his watch only to find that the digital clock face was blank. He tapped at it. He had not thought the batteries needed replacing. Then he remembered Jun's cell phone that also did not work. In any case they must have been gone for several hours. Surely the counselors had noticed their absence and had launched a search. They would be found soon enough.

"Add the snacks Takeru-kun and I brought to that and we'll have enough food for a little while longer," Jun pointed out.

"Probably another day...day and a half at most," Koushiro nodded.

"You guys are forgetting one major factor: the digimon. When you add them in we only have enough food for half that time," Sora pointed out.

"Oh that's right," Jou sighed as he ran a hand through his hair.

"We don't need them. We digimon can hunt and forage for our food," Gabumon stated.

"You can?" Koushiro asked as they all looked at the digimon in surprise.

"That's right, Koushiro-han. You don't need to include us in your calculations," Tentomon replied.

"Are you sure, Piyomon?" Sora asked.

"Oh absolutely, we can do alright for ourselves," the bird digimon stated.

"Is that really okay, V-mon?" Daisuke frowned.

"Definitely, your food's really yummy, but we managed without it before," the dragon reassured, bumping his and Daisuke's shoulders together.

"We could even help you find food to eat if you'd like," Lunamon offered.

"That would be great," Jun smiled.

"Good, good, that'll really help us," Jou grinned. "Then this food will only be for humans."

"How about it? Are they good, Agumon?" Taichi asked as the digimon at a packet of crackers he had opened. The dinosaur had already scarfed down almost the whole packet so they probably were good or he was just that hungry.

"Very," Agumon nodded. He took another couple crackers out of the packet and popped them in his mouth.

"Quite the appetite," Taichi chuckled.

"I said that's only for humans!" Jou shouted when he spotted them.

"Don't be so stingy. They did save us," Taichi handed what remained of the packet to Agumon and the digimon quickly ate the rest of the crackers.

"Ugh, you people make me crazy," Jou ran both his hands through his hair.

"Come on Kido-kun he's not-" Jun began.

"Oh no," Lunamon spun in the air so that she was facing the ocean.

"Hm," Piyomon hummed as she stood up and turned to glare at the water.

"Lunamon?" Jun questioned.

"Now what's the matter?" Sora frowned.

"I hear something in the water. Something very large," Lunamon explained.

"Something's coming," Piyomon stated.

"Something friendly," Daisuke suggested.

Daisuke jerked when he heard the roaring sound of rushing water like that of a waterfall coming from near where the phone booths were. "Come on," V-mon gave a tug on his arm. The little boy scrambled to his feet, and the dragon led him further up the beach and away from the rushing water. A hand landed on his shoulder. It was Jun. He knew it was his sister. He could hear the footsteps and breathing of the others around them. "What is that?" Taichi asked from in front and slightly to the right of Daisuke. The little boy yelped when he heard the crash of shattering glass. He found the hem of his sister's shirt and held onto it. A second latter the shattering sounded again and then again three more times. The phone booths? Daisuke was pretty sure that it was the phone booths being smashed, but what had destroyed them?

There was a mechanical like whirring and the wind picked up. Daisuke hid his face against his sister's side to shield it from the sand that had been blown into the air. "It's Shellmon!" Tentomon gasped.

"Shellmon?" Koushiro repeated.

"I didn't know this was his territory. He really doesn't take kindly to trespassers," Tentomon exclaimed.

"Well can you tell him it was an accident and that we'll leave immediately?" Jun suggested. A loud, rumbling roar was her answer.

"I don't think that would be enough to appease him," Lunamon replied.

"Everybody up here!" Jou called. There was the roar of rushing water again but this time it was over Daisuke's head. Droplets of water fell down on him, and Jou screamed.

"Jou!" Gomamon shouted only for his voice to be garbled by water. There was a thump as something – or someone as it seemed to be in this case – hit the sand a couple feet from Daisuke.

"Ugh, ow," Jou groaned.

"Kido-kun, are you alright?" Jun headed towards where the boy's voice had come from. Daisuke, still holding onto her shirt, followed.

"Let's go guys!" Agumon shouted.

"I'm going to take care of this bozo don't you worry, Daishuke," V-mon slipped out of the little boy's grasp.

"Be careful," he called.

"You can do it, Agumon!" Taichi shouted.

"Baby flame!" Agumon shouted. There was a pained groan and Daisuke assumed – hoped – it came from Shellmon.

"Petit Fire...oh?"

"Magical fire...huh?"

"Petit thunder...wha?"

"V-mon head! Ugh!"

Now that did not sound good. "What's going on? What's wrong?" Daisuke tugged on his sister's shirt.

"Only Agumon's attacks are working," Jun explained.

"It looks like they've lost their powers," Yamato exclaimed. There was the rushing water again and the five digimon all cried out.

"Agumon!" Taichi called.

"I'm not being defeated that easily," Agumon stated.

"Air shot...huh?"

"V-mon! Is V-mon okay?" Daisuke demanded.

"Poison Ivy...oh?"

"He was knocked down," Jun led her brother forward a couple steps. "He's here."

"V-mon," the little boy dropped to his knees in the sand and pulled the dragon's head onto his lap.

"Tear shot...what?" Lunamon mumbled. She cried out a moment latter.

"Lunamon!" Jun shouted and Daisuke heard his sister's footsteps as she rushed towards the rabbit digimon.

"Baby flame!"

"Way to go, Agumon!" Taichi cheered.

"Why is it only Agumon?" Koushiro questioned.

"We're just too hungry," Tentomon replied.

"What?" the ten year old gasped.

"Gabumon?" Yamato exclaimed.

"I feel so weak," the digimon cried.

"I'm sorry, Daishuke. My stomach still feels empty despite that yummy stick you gave me," V-mon mumbled.

"I see! Agumon ate the ration. He's the only one that's had a meal," Sora exclaimed.

"Now I understand," Koushiro stated.

"The other digimon are all too hungry to fight," Yamato concluded.

"I guess I should of given you the whole box of Pocky instead of just the one," Daisuke mused as he hugged the digimon.

"Listen, Agumon! We're the only two who can fight this monster. It's up to us now," Taichi stated.

"I know we can do this, Taichi," Agumon replied.

"Here! Over here, Shellmon!" the eleven year old shouted. Daisuke's head perked up and his eyebrows drew together. What was Taichi thinking trying to catch the monster's attention?

"No don't," Sora called.

"Hey, ugly! Over here!" the boy taunted.

"Taichi, you idiot! What do you think you're doing?" Jun demanded.

"Stay back, Jun. Agumon and I can handle this," Taichi shouted.

"Baby flame!"

"Take this! How do you like...!" his speech became a shout.

"Hold on, Taichi," Agumon exclaimed. Shellmon roared and Agumon grunted in pain as the ground shook slightly.

"Taichi-nii!" Daisuke stood up and took a step forward.

"Daisuke, don't you-" there was the rushing water again and Jun's voice was drowned out. The little boy was knocked over a second latter when he was hit by a jet of water.

"Are you alright?" V-mon helped Daisuke's sit up.

"Yeah, but Taichi-nii..." he trailed.

"Daisuke!" Jun's knees thumped in the sand beside him. She was holding something soft and warm in her arms – Lunamon.

"Damn it! I have to do something. There must be some way I can fight b...ack!" Taichi began only to scream. Daisuke felt the blood drain from his face. He had never heard the older boy scream like that before and wished that he never had.

"Taichi, no!" Agumon shouted.

"Agumon," the eleven year old cried voice strained.

"Taichi!"

"Wh...what's happening?" Taichi exclaimed at the same moment that Jun and the others all gasped. Daisuke heart gave a hopeful thrum. He didn't know what was happening but from the others awed reactions it was probably something good.

"Agumon digivolve to...Greymon!"

There was a roar much louder and deeper than Shellmon's own. Taichi shouted but it was a sound caused by surprise not pain. "Taichi-nii?"

"He's okay," Jun reassured.

"Digivolve?...Agumon changed again?" the little boy guessed.

"Into a giant T. Rex!" his sister exclaimed, giving his shoulder a shake.

"Awesome!" he grinned.

There was the sound of a scuffle...the sound of two very large creatures scuffling. Daisuke held onto V-mon as the ground shook and the air filled with roars. Jun's arm was wrapped around his shoulders and Lunamon was pressed against his side. "You can do it, Greymon!" Taichi shouted. There was the sound of rushing water again and then the crackling of a fire.

"Mega flame!" Greymon roared. There was the boom of an explosion above them and then a distant splash.

"He won! He won right?" Daisuke asked.

"He sure did!" V-mon laughed.

"Agumon!" Taichi called.

"But he also turned back into Agumon again. I hope he's alright," Jun commented, concern in her voice.

"He must of used up all his energy. I'm sure if he rests and has something to eat he'll be okay," Lunamon reassured.

Jun let out a relieved breath before standing up and marching towards Taichi. "Nee-chan?" Daisuke scrambled to his feet and held V-mon's arm as they followed after his sister.

"Jun, you're angry," Lunamon stated softly, paws pressed to her mouth in worry as she floated beside the twelve year old.

"Not at you," she reassured. "But this idiot!" she brought her fist down on the back of Taichi's head.

"Ow! Hey!" Taichi cried as he rubbed the back of his head. "What the heck was that for?"

"For being stupid," Jun stated.

"I just saved your life!" Taichi threw his hands up.

"And almost got yourself killed in the process!" Jun jabbed him in the chest with her pointer finger.

"You're not hurt are you, Taichi-nii?" Daisuke cut in before the two could scream at each other anymore.

"I'm fine. Beside, you know, Jun trying to bash my brains in," Taichi replied.

"Oh like I could ever damage that thick head of yours," Jun huffed.

The shock of getting attacked again soon began to wear off. "Daishuke, where are you going?" V-mon questioned when the little boy stood up.

"Back to where we were sitting before Shellmon attacked. I left the box of Pocky sitting in the sand there. Unless they were destroyed in the fight," he cautiously started walking in that general direction.

"They're still there," V-mon linked his arm with Daisuke's.

"Watch out for the broken glass from the phone booths," Jun warned.

"Gotcha," the dragon made a thumbs up with his free hand. His scarlet eyes scanning the sand for glass shards.

V-mon led Daisuke to where the small, pink box was sitting in the sand beside the others bags. "Here you go, Daishuke," he offering the box to the little boy.

"For you," the eight year old shook his head and pushed the box back towards V-mon.

"Really?" V-mon's eyes widened.

"I don't want you to be hungry," Daisuke nodded.

"Oh, thank you, thank you! You're the best, Daishuke!" the dragon exclaimed, tackling the boy in a hug.

"It would be best if all the digimon ate," Sora commented.

"All of us should eat," Jun knelt beside her backpack. She was glad none of the bags had been damaged during the fight. She opened her bag and took out her plastic container filled with strawberries. "Kido-kun, where are you going?" she asked when her classmate started to head towards the broken phone booths.

"I was going to try making another call," Jou answered.

"Those phones weren't working even before they were smashed. They certainly won't work now," she stated. Jou bit the inside of his mouth as he glanced between the others and the broken phone booths.

"I suppose you're right," he sighed as he sat down.

"Of course I am," she grinned. "We'll find another way home, Kido-kun," she added in a softer tone as she gave his shoulder a reassuring pat.

"If you want some more just ask," Sora told the digimon as they ate crackers from the emergency rations.

"Would you like some of my strawberries, Lunamon?" Jun asked

"I've never had strawberries before," the rabbit digimon replied. She floated closer to the container, curiously studying the red fruits.

"Well would you like to try one," the magenta haired girl pulled out a strawberry and offered it to Lunamon.

"Yes please," the digimon nodded before taking the fruit. She popped the strawberry into her mouth, her eyes lighting up, and the blush on her cheeks darkening. "So sweet and juicy!" she beamed.

"I'm glad you like them. You can have more if you like," Jun chuckled.

"Oh I do! Thank you, Jun, you're so sweet too!" Lunamon threw her arms around the girl's neck.

"So what's the plan now?" Yamato crossed his arms.

"Well there's no reason to stay here any longer," Taichi pointed out.

"It's very likely that Shellmon survived the fight. We should leave this place before he comes back and attacks us again," Koushiro stated.

"Good idea," Yamato nodded.

"Why don't we go back to the forest? The forest we first arrived here in. Let's wait for help there," Jou suggested.

"We've already been over this, Kido-kun. We fell off a cliff and got washed down a river. Going back there would be too hard," Jun stated.

"And isn't that where that monster bug lives?" Daisuke pointed out.

"No more monsters!" Mimi cried.

"There are telephone booths here, so logically there must have been people here at some point to put them up. I suggest we try to find more evidence of these people's existence," Koushiro said.

"I guess that makes sense," Jou mused.

"It certainly does," Sora nodded.

"It's better than nothing," Jun shrugged.

"Then let's get going!" Taichi exclaimed.

"Anywhere you wanna go I'll go, Taichi," Agumon proclaimed.

"Thank you, Agumon," the boy grinned at the digimon.

"Then it's decided. We're all in agreement right?" Yamato glanced at the others, half expecting someone to protest.

"Yeah," Jou nodded, albeit a bit reluctantly. "Well then let's be sure not to leave anything behind," he glanced around to see if any of their things were still sitting in the sand. None of them were.

"Alright, let's go!" Taichi started to walk down the beach.

"Yeah!" the others cheered as they followed him.

 **New Japanese Terms:**

– **han: honorific that is the Kansai-ben (accent associated with the Kansai region of Japan) version of –san.**

 **Decided to write the Shellmon fight from Daisuke's point of view. Hope it came out alright, writing it was a fun challenge.**


	4. The Blue Wolf Garurumon!

CHAPTER 4 – The Blue Wolf Garurumon!

The group of nine children and nine digimon had left the beach and made their way to the top of a cliff that overlooked the ocean. Daisuke sat on the ground a safe distance from the edge absently rubbing his shin. He had knocked it on a rock while they were walking, and he was pretty sure he was going to have a bruise. "Are you sure you're alright, Daishuke? I'm sorry I didn't see that rock," V-mon apologized, again.

"It's fine. I'm fine," Daisuke smiled. "Really, V-mon, it's just a bruise. It's no big deal," the little boy shrugged. He was an active child – playing soccer, running around, and just goofing off – and he got his fair share of bumps and bruises.

"Agumon!" Taichi called from where he was standing on the edge of the cliff.

"What is it, Taichi?" the dinosaur walked to the boy's side.

"You digivolved into Greymon, so why did you become Agumon again after defeating Shellmon?" he asked.

"Well..." Agumon trailed.

"Well?" the eleven year old crossed his arms over his chest.

"I don't know."

"Eh?" Taichi gasped pitching forward. Agumon grabbed the back of his shirt to stop him from falling off the edge.

"That's why you shouldn't stand so close to the edge," Jun scolded. Taichi turned towards her to retort but before he could speak a roar cut through the air. The children all gasped and looked towards the sound in time to see a gray, four legged dinosaur like digimon come crashing through some boulders.

"What's that digimon?" Koushiro asked.

"That's a Monochromon. He's a very gentle digimon. You don't need to worry about him," Tentomon answered.

"Yeah, 'cause the roaring just screams 'come and pet me,'" Jun snorted as she moved so that she was standing between Daisuke and the Monochromon.

"And look, he's coming this way," Taichi exclaimed.

"Monochromon can be quite dangerous when something upsets them," Lunamon commented.

"Oh no! Not again!" Mimi cried.

"There's another one," Daisuke shouted when he heard a second roaring join the first. The others turned around to see another Monochromon coming up behind them.

"This is bad. They've got us on both sides," Yamato stated. Taichi's eyes widened when he saw the Monochromon charge towards them.

"Run!" he grabbed Daisuke's arm and sprinted towards a large boulder at the edge of the clearing.

The children and digimon all dove behind the boulder just as the Monochromon's horns smashed into each other. A low growl rumbled from their chests as the two monsters circled each other. One of them smashed his tail into some rocks and swept a large chunk at the other. The rock hit the hard plating on the digimon's face and broke apart. "They're fighting each other," Taichi pointed out.

"Why?" Koushiro asked.

"Territory I presume," Tentomon replied.

"They can just have it then!" Palmon turned around and ran into the forest.

"Wait up, Palmon! Don't leave without me!" Mimi ran after the plant digimon. The others were quick to follow the pair. Taichi paused and looked back when he heard someone cry out. Takeru had tripped and fallen.

"Takeru!" Patamon exclaimed.

"Are you alright?" Yamato knelt beside the little boy.

"You're fine, right Takeru-kun?" Taichi called.

"Right," he nodded. He pushed himself off the ground and ran past Taichi, falling into step beside Daisuke and V-mon.

Soon they could not hear the Monochromon anymore and dropped their pace to a walk. They walked through the forest for several hours. The sun had started to set. Lunamon was perched on Jun's shoulders. Her head was pillowed on the girl's fluffy hair, and her eyes were drooping as she absently played with some of the magenta strands. Daisuke and V-mon trailed behind them. The little boy leaned heavily against the dragon as his head bobbed. He looked ready to fall asleep standing up. "We'll have to stop for the night soon," Jun commented as she glanced back at her brother and V-mon.

"Just a little further," Taichi replied. "Here, get on my back," he laid a hand on Daisuke's shoulder and then knelt in front of the little boy when he stopped walking.

"You're the best, Taichi-nii," Daisuke sleepily looped his arms around the older boy's neck.

"And don't you forget it," Taichi chuckled as he stood up.

"I want to be carried too. I can't walk any further," Mimi leaned against a tree.

"Sure you can, Mimi-chan. Just a bit further," Jun said as she walked past the younger girl.

"My legs are going to get fat," Mimi cried.

"The fatter the stronger," Agumon beamed. "They will support you better and help you run faster."

"I don't want that. I'm not like you," the ten year old stated.

"Agumon is right," Palmon jogged towards the pair. "Fat legs are just as good as fat roots."

"I don't like those either," Mimi told her. The plant digimon knelt on the ground with a defeated sigh.

"What a strangely colored sunset," Koushiro commented. He and Sora both paused to admire the sky.

"The sun's almost gone," Sora pointed out.

"We're going to have to find a place to stay for the night. This island has already proven to be dangerous during the day who knows what will come out when night falls," Koushiro stated.

"I smell it. I smell fresh water," Tentomon exclaimed, flying to land on a branch of a nearby tree. "Ah, we've got drinking water. It's a lake. Let's camp over there!"

"I say we do. I don't want to walk anymore," Mimi stated from where she had sat down next to Palmon.

"Hurray, we get to swim!" Gomamon started to run towards the lake.

"Wait a moment, Gomamon," Jou grabbed the digimon's tail to stop him from running off. "We haven't decided yet." Yamato watched as his little brother sat on the ground, eyes closed, and breathing heavy.

"I also think it's time we stopped for the day," he turned his gaze towards the others.

"Everyone's tired and hungry," Taichi nodded.

"I think it's best we stop and have some dinner then turn in for the night," Jun stated.

"That's a good plan. I like that plan a lot," Jou grinned.

With that decided the group walked to the lake. "Wow! Such a big lake," Jun gasped as they all stood on the shore. The lake was huge and beautiful with the colors of the sunset reflecting off the surface of the waters. The only blemish on the picture was the tall electrical towers scattered around the center of the lake.

"It should be safe to rest here tonight," Piyomon stated.

"Yeah, it's a great place for camping," Sora grinned.

"Hey, does camping mean we have to sleep outside?" Mimi asked.

"That's right," Taichi hitched Daisuke up and got a better grip on the little boy's legs.

"Tell me you're joking!" the girl clasped her hands together in front of her chest. A humming caught their attention and they all turned towards the sound.

"It's a trolley car!" Takeru pointed towards a trolley car sitting on a circular island connected to the shore by a bridge made of rocks.

"That's odd. The light just...came on," Koushiro frowned after the headlights and the interior lights of the trolley car lite up.

"Maybe there are people inside," Sora suggested.

"Let's check it out!" Taichi ran towards the island the vehicle was on. The others ran after him.

"It's really a trolley car?" Daisuke tightened his arm around Taichi's shoulders.

"Looks like," the older boy answered.

When he got close to the trolley car the front doors slide open on their own. Taichi jogged up the stairs and looked around...empty. "There's nobody here," he sighed. He let Daisuke down and the eight year old started exploring the trolley car. V-mon was quick to join him.

"It's totally empty," Sora entered the trolley car from the middle doors along with Koushiro and Mimi.

"Yeah, but it's in really good condition," Jun walked up the stairs and stood beside Taichi glancing around at the pristine interior as she did.

"It appears to be brand new," Koushiro said.

"Oh goody, these seats are comfy," Mimi grinned as she sat down on one of the green cushioned benches.

"And bouncy," Daisuke giggled. The little boy and V-mon were bouncing on the seat next to the older girl.

"This is freaky. First the telephones at the beach now this trolley car. I don't understand it," Taichi frowned.

"And we all know how great the phones worked out. Something just as weird could happen here," Jun commented.

"Yeah, like this suddenly moving all by itself," Jou suggested from where he was sitting in front of the controls.

"Maybe that's how we'll get home," Taichi shrugged.

"So we have nothing to loose by staying here," Sora lounged on one of the seats. It felt so good to sit down after being on her feet for so many hours.

"It would be more comfortable than sleeping on the ground," Jun agreed.

"Uh...can we eat now?" Tentomon asked.

"Please say yes," V-mon eagerly turned towards them.

"You have a fishing set, Mimi-san?" Koushiro asked.

"That's right," the girl nodded.

"Might I use it?" he requested.

"You know how to fish?" Taichi exclaimed incredulously.

"My Otou-san likes to go fishing. It makes him happy when I agree to accompany him," Koushiro explained.

"Here you go, Koushiro-kun," Mimi handed the fishing set to him.

"Thank you," he nodded.

"Can I help? I've never been fishing before," Daisuke bounced off the seat and clasped his hands together.

"Oh, me too!" Takeru jogged to Daisuke's side. Koushiro looked at the two hopeful eight year olds and shrugged.

"I don't see why not."

Koushiro cast his line from the shore of the lake. Takeru was crouched at his left watching the soft ripples on the water's surface, and Daisuke sat on his other side along with V-mon. The burgundy haired boy was playing with blades of grass as he asked Koushiro several questions about fishing. The ten year old tried to keep his answers simple as he quickly realized that he would loose Daisuke's attention if he rambled too long. "Hey, Gomamon! Don't swim over here. You're scaring away all the fish," Koushiro shouted when the seal digimon started swimming near his line.

"Lucky! These are my favorite type of berries," Tentomon exclaimed from where he was perched on a tree branch that had a clump of bright red berries growing on it. Below him walked Sora and Jou arms loaded with firewood as they headed towards the stone fire ring Yamato and Taichi were setting up on the shore.

"Air shot!" Patamon called from nearby. He knocked down two orange colored bananas with the attack. Gabumon winced when the fruits hit his horn. "I'm sorry," Patamon landed next to the reptile digimon.

"You don't need to use your powers just to get fruit," Piyomon stated before flying to pull a strange fruit off a tree using her beak.

"These flowers are edible," Lunamon told Jun.

"Really?" Jun knelt next to the cluster of flowers Lunamon was pointing at.

"They're called Starflowers," the rabbit digimon nodded as she picked one of the flowers. They were about the size of Jun's hand with five yellow petals that ended in points.

"I can see why," Jun smiled.

"The petals are really sweet and are eaten like candy," Lunamon pulled off one of the petals and popped it in her mouth. Smiling she pulled off another and offered it to Jun. The girl accepted the petal and took a cautious bite of it.

"Oh wow!" she exclaimed, her eyes sparkling.

"You like it?" Lunamon grinned.

"Like it? I love it," Jun giggled as she popped the rest of the petal in her mouth. "Daisuke will too. He loves sweets."

"There's enough that we can pick some for everyone," Lunamon said.

"They'll make a good dessert," Jun smiled.

"You can eat these mushrooms," Palmon picked a large, brown mushroom from a patch on the ground. She looked over to see Mimi about to pick some white mushrooms with red spots that were growing on the side of a tree. "Not those! Those are poisonous," Palmon exclaimed. The girl gasped and pulled away from the mushrooms.

"You're so good at this, Palmon. I see that flower on your head isn't just for show," Mimi grinned.

"Of course it isn't! I can perform photosynthesis after all," Palmon puffed with pride.

"Oh, did you remember what that means?" Mimi asked.

"No, but I know I can do it!"

"Great! We're ready to start cooking," Yamato stated as he, Sora, and Taichi stood around the finished fire ring.

"But how do we start the fire?" Sora asked.

"Leave that to me," Agumon ran towards the ring and breathed fire onto the logs.

"Way to go, Agumon!" Taichi pumped his fist in the air. The dinosaur digimon grinned.

"Hey, look it," Takeru ran towards the campfire along with the other three who had been fishing. All of them were carrying fish.

"The fishing was a great success," Koushiro smiled.

"Awesome Izumi, Daisuke! Let's eat 'em!" Taichi beamed as he took the fish Koushiro offered him and ruffled Daisuke's hair with his free hand.

"Good work, Takeru," Yamato took the fish his brother offered him. Takeru giggled in response.

The eleven year old turned around to see Taichi holding one of the fish by its tail and dangling it in the fire. "What do you think you're doing? You're going to ruin the fish like that. You have to cook it away from the flames," he stated, stabbing the stick his fish was on in the ground right at the outside of the fire ring.

"You sure know a lot about this, Yamato," Taichi commented, a bit put out that he did not. His family had never been big on camping. The closest they got was renting a cabin by a lake, but even then they had a fully functioning kitchen.

It was dark by the time they all sat down around the campfire to share their meal. "This is surprisingly good," Tentomon commented in regards to the melon he and Piyomon were sharing.

"Ah, it's hot!" Taichi cried after trying to take a bite of his fish right after it had finished cooking.

"Idiot, you should of given it a chance to cool," Jun reached around Daisuke and V-mon and playfully whacked Taichi on the back of the head.

"It's delicious," Koushiro stated as he ate his own fish.

"You can say that again," Daisuke grinned.

"It's delicious!" V-mon beamed.

"What's the matter, Takeru?" Yamato asked when he saw that his brother was just staring at the fish in his hands.

"I've never eaten fish like this before, Onii-chan. I've only ever had fish sticks," he explained.

"Well this is better. Just try it," Yamato reassured. Takeru pressed his lips into a thin line gaze traveling to the dead fish's face. His meal was staring at him. It was creepy.

"Kaa-chan doesn't like it when I eat with my fingers," he stated, excused, because he really did not want to try the fish.

"Takeru, it's alright," Yamato groaned, starting to get exasperated.

"The face is freaky isn't?" Jun guessed at the real reason behind Takeru's reluctance. "Why don't you eat some berries while I see if I can do something about that?" she smiled. Takeru nodded and traded her the fish for some red berries.

While Takeru was eating the berries Jun used her cleaned pocket knife to cut off the fish's head and removed the bones. Once that was finished she took the remaining meat back to Takeru. "Give this a try," she requested. The blond eight year old hesitated for a moment before picking up one of the pieces of meat and taking a small bite. A moment latter he took a larger bite. "It's good?"

"Very," he grinned. "Thank you."

"No problem," Jun nodded. "Daisuke, I'm going to go refill my water bottle," she told her brother as she stood up.

"Okay," the little boy replied before turning his attention to V-mon as the dragon addressed him.

"I'll go with you," Taichi stood up and fell into step beside the girl. Jun glanced at him curiously but did not comment. She got her water bottle out of her backpack and knelt down next to Sora who was refilling a bottle from the emergency supplies.

"Hey, do either of you know why Takeru-kun calls Yamato 'Onii-chan'?" Taichi asked

"They're brothers," Jun shrugged. "Aren't they?" she looked at Taichi. She had made the assumption that the two were brothers but had never actually had the fact confirmed.

"I thought so too," Sora nodded.

"But they have different family names," Taichi pointed out.

"Hm, I don't know," Sora hummed. Jun glanced over when Jou walked towards them, gaze turned towards the night sky.

"What are you looking at, Kido-kun?" she stood up, screwing the lid onto her water bottle.

"I'm trying to figure out which direction we've been going in, but I can't find the Pole Star," Jou explained.

"You're right, I haven't been able to find any constellations I know either," Sora commented. Jun looked up at the sky. She had some experience star gazing, but what she saw was completely unfamiliar.

"I can't even spot the Southern Cross," Jun frowned.

"What does that mean?" Taichi asked.

"It means we're neither in the Northern or Southern Hemispheres," Jou answered.

"How is that possible?" Taichi's brow creased.

"You can see Grani," Lunamon floated towards them.

"Grani?" Jun repeated.

"The mechanical dragon steed of Dukemon, one of the legendary Royal Knights," the rabbit digimon explained. She then pointed out the stars that made up the constellation.

"I see it though it looks more like a bird than a dragon to me," Sora commented.

"I don't," Taichi frowned. He had never been that good at spotting constellations.

"Are there other constellations you know?" Jun asked.

"Of course! I love star gazing and tonight is such a great night for it. The sky is very clear. See that line of stars above and to the right of Grani?" Jun nodded and Lunamon continued speaking. "That's La Pucelle."

"That's French," Jou exclaimed.

"What does it mean, Sempai?" Sora asked.

"I'm not really sure," Jou rubbed the back of his head sheepishly.

"Do you know, Lunamon?" Jun asked.

"I don't know what French is, but I know that La Pucelle is The Maiden. She's the sword of Darcmon, the Goddess of the Battlefield," Lunamon told them. "You can also make out the winged horse Pegasmon closer to the horizon."

"Like the constellation Pegasus," Sora stated.

"Yeah, but the stars making up Pegasmon are different as is its placement in the sky," Jou replied.

"You sure know a lot about the constellations, Lunamon," Jun commented.

"I adore the night sky and all the shinning stars, but it's the moon that holds my heart," the rabbit digimon replied her voice far away as she gazed up at the silvery full moon. Jun looked up at the vast alien sky full of more stars than she had ever seen at home and a moon more beautiful than she had ever seen. It made her feel small but also filled with wonder.

"I can see why. It's beautiful," Jun spoke softly. Lunamon took hold of her hand. Jun gave the digimon's paw a squeeze and smiled as they gazed up at the night sky together.

"Daishuke, who's Tamotsu?" V-mon asked as Jun and Taichi walked away from the campfire. He had heard his name and knew that he was important to Daisuke, but he never did figure out exactly who Tamotsu was.

"Tsu-chan's my guide dog," Daisuke answered.

"Guide dog? What's that mean?" V-mon asked.

"He's a dog who guides me," the little boy giggled. "But he's more than that. He's family."

"How does Tamotsu-chan know where to lead you, Daisuke-kun?" Takeru asked.

"He's super smart!" the other eight year old beamed. He was also very well trained.

"Oh," Takeru looked towards Patamon when the digimon yawned. "Are you sleepy, Patamon?" The small digimon nodded before curling up on the ground. Palmon and Gomamon were slumped against each other as they dozed nearby.

"I'm getting tired myself," Taichi yawned as he stretched.

"Perhaps we should take turns keeping watch," Koushiro suggested.

"We would be safer that way," Jun agreed.

"Alright, let's decide on an order," Jou nodded.

"It's fine if the girls don't and obviously Daisuke won't," Taichi replied.

"Seriously?" Jun frowned at him.

"You want to let the boy who's blind keep watch? I know Daisuke can-"

"That's not the part of your statement I had a problem with and you know it," Jun crossed her arms over her chest.

"Takeru won't keep watch either," Yamato stated as he stood up.

"I can do it," Takeru stood up as well and tugging on the hem of his brother's shirt.

"No, you're too young and you need your rest. Just sleep," Yamato's tone left no room for argument.

"But there's no bedding we can sleep in," Mimi pouted.

"Hey Gabumon, let me borrow your pelt to use as a blanket. I've been dying to see what you look like underneath. Come on, let me see," Taichi grinned as he crept towards the digimon and pulled at the pelt he wore.

"Anything but that!" Gabumon cried. Taichi laughed as the digimon ran off.

"Shut up!" Yamato shoved the other boy. Takeru gasped, watching the escalating fight with wide worried eyes. Jun glanced between the little blond boy and the two arguing eleven year olds with a deep frown.

"What the heck's your problem?" Taichi demanded, re-catching his balance and clenching his hands into fists.

"It's obvious he doesn't like you teasing him so back off," Yamato's own hands formed fists.

"That's no reason to push me. I won't just let you shove me around," Taichi shot back right before the two lunged at each other.

"Please stop fighting!" Takeru cried. Jun's lips pressed into a thin line as she marched towards the two boys.

"Okay, that's enough," Jun elbowed them apart.

"Ow!" Yamato rubbed his stomach where her elbow had hit him.

"Jun!" Taichi cried, hand pressed to his own stomach an expression of betrayal on his face as he looked at his neighbor and longtime friend.

"You had it coming," she pointed at him, then moved her hand to gesture at both of them. "Immediately resorting to violence to solve your problems. Just like boys!" she huffed.

"Err, so then...who will be our first watch?" Jou tried to get them back on subject.

"I'll do it," Taichi stated

"I'm next," Yamato jabbed his thumb at himself. Takeru smiled happy to see that the fighting had stopped.

"Alright," Jou smiled. "Koushiro-san can be third," he glanced at the red headed boy to get his opinion. Koushiro nodded. "And I'll finish up the night. Now that that's settled let's go back to the trolley car and get some much needed rest."

They all walked back to the island the trolley car was sitting on. Taichi and Agumon started a fire outside while the others brought some large leaves into the trolley car and set them on the floor as a makeshift bed for some of the digimon. "I always sleep in a big bed," Mimi sighed as she sat down on one of the cushioned seats. Daisuke's heart started to feel heavy. He always shared his bed with Tamotsu.

"I think we're very lucky to have found any shelter at all," Sora stated from where she was sitting across from the younger girl.

"These cushions are better than the hard ground," Jun sat down as well. She laid her backpack down beside her while Lunamon settled on her other side. "Daisuke, use my backpack as a pillow," she took hold of her little brother's hand and placed it on her bag. Daisuke felt the backpack for a moment before crawling onto the seat and laying down with his head pillowed on it. V-mon jumped up and curled up beside him.

"Good night," Koushiro laid down a couple seats from Mimi.

"'Night," Jou replied.

"Don't let the Monochromon bite," Takeru giggled.

'I hope our sleep won't be disturbed by any monsters,' Sora thought as she closed her eyes.

'I really wanted to take a bath,' Mimi sighed internally, trying to make herself comfortable on the cushioned seat. She spotted Daisuke and V-mon. The two were holding each other in their sleep. 'How cute!'

'I miss Tsu-chan. I hope he's okay,' Daisuke hugged V-mon closer, finding comfort in the dragon's presence.

'Today was rather draining. It'll be a long day spending all of tomorrow with everyone,' Koushiro sighed and closed his eyes. He was an only child and not very inclined to socializing with his peers. He wasn't used to spending a whole day with eight other kids and nine digimon.

'Maybe when I wake up I'll find that this has all been a dream,' Jou thought as he took off his glasses.

'Well this sure is a lot more exciting than I thought summer camp was going to be,' Jun leaned back and wrapped her arm around Lunamon. The rabbit digimon snuggled up to her side.

"Gabumon," Yamato said from where he and the digimon were sitting separate from the others.

"Yes?"

"Go and lay down with my brother."

"Why?"

"Because your fur is making me sweat. Now go!"

"I see. You want me to keep Takeru warm."

"I never said that," Yamato protested as he stood up and turned so that his back was facing Gabumon.

"You're just too shy to admit it," Gabumon hopped down from the bench and walked towards where Takeru and Patamon were laying down.

"Whatever," the blond boy walked towards the doors of the trolley car. He glanced back to see that Gabumon had done as he asked. Takeru's eyes fluttered open and quickly spotted him.

"Thanks, Onii-chan," the little boy murmured. Yamato flushed and quickly left the trolley car.

Jun watched him leave then turned her gaze to the off white ceiling. She closed her eyes but opened them a minute latter. Blowing out a breath she ran a hand through her thick hair and worked out a tangle. This was ridiculous. She had been going all day. She should be exhausted and she was, but her mind was still buzzing with activity. She soon gave up on getting to sleep. She stood up carefully, as to not wake Lunamon or any of the others, and left the trolley car. She walked towards the fire Taichi and Agumon were sitting beside.

"Jun, what are you doing out here?" her neighbor asked when he spotted her.

"I couldn't sleep," she shrugged glancing over her shoulder when she heard harmonica music.

"Yamato's playing," Taichi told her. "You were right. Him and Takeru-kun are brothers." Jun looked at him curiously before turning her gaze back in the direction the music was coming from. She could not make out Yamato in the shadows of the night. "Hey, where are you going?" Taichi called when Jun started to walk off.

"I'm going to check on Yamato-kun. Don't fall asleep on your first watch."

Jun met with Gabumon as she was walking across the bridge. "Hey, Gabumon," she smiled.

"Hello, Jun, I think that's Yamato playing," he told her softly.

"That's what Taichi said," Jun nodded. "Ah, there he is," she spotted Yamato sitting on the shore playing a harmonica.

"What a wonderful sound," Gabumon smiled as they approached the blond boy.

"Hope you don't mind us joining you," Jun sat down beside Yamato. He shrugged and kept playing. Jun leaned back on her hands and gazed up at the sky a soft smile on her face as she listened to Yamato play. He really was good.

They stayed like that until Jun felt someone's gaze. She looked over to see Yamato watching her. "What is it? I don't have something on my face do I?" she pressed her hands to her cheeks. Yamato shook his head and lowered his harmonica to his lap.

"You've handled being here very well."

"What do you mean?" she tilted her head to the side curiously.

"Having to watch Takeru already feels like such a big job, but you've got Daisuke-kun and he's blind. Watching him must be so much more work."

"Daisuke isn't a burden!" Jun immediately bristled at the boy's words.

"That, that isn't what I was trying to say."

"That's what it sounded like!"

"I just...you're an amazing older sister!" he blurted and Jun's anger started to diminish. "You're great with Daisuke-kun and Takeru," he paused and added more softly, "better than I am." He looked down at the ground. Jun sighed.

"I wasn't always," Yamato turned his gaze to Jun and she continued. "When he was little, well littler like preschool age, I thought he was the most annoying pest ever."

"What changed?"

"I realized how easily I could loose him and how much that terrified me," Jun held the silver moon pendant on her necklace as she spoke.

"You lost someone close to you?" Yamato considered laying a hand on her shoulder but didn't. Jun nodded turning her face away from him as tears gathered in her eyes.

"My tou-chan," her voice was choked with grief and this time Yamato did lay his hand on her shoulder.

"I'm sorry," it was all he could think to say. They fell into a heavy silence for a few minutes.

Jun wiped the tear tracks from her cheeks and sniffed. She cleared her throat before speaking. "You'll get better," she still had her face turned away from him.

"Hm?" Yamato hummed so she knew he was listening.

"You two clearly love each other. You just need to get more comfortable interacting with him and Takeru-kun already adores you so don't worry too much about messing up or something."

"Thanks, seriously, thank you," he squeezed her shoulder.

"Anytime," Jun looked up at him and smiled. Her eyes still glittered with tears, but her smile was bright.

"And you can, you know, come to me if you ever, um, need to talk about something," Yamato's cheeks flushed and he took his hand off her shoulder and ran it through his hair. He did not know why she would ever come to him if she was having a problem, they weren't that close, but making the offer felt right.

"I'll remember that," Jun bumped her shoulder against his arm. "I'm going to try and get some sleep," she stretched her arms over her head and yawned. "You should too."

Jun was halfway across the bridge when the ground started to shake. A whirlpool formed beside the island and from it a giant sea serpent rose. The creature roared and started swimming away from the island. Jun yelped when the rocks making the bridge broke apart and she fell into the water. She quickly swam to the island and pulled herself up. She looked back to see the shore getting further and further away. Yamato shouted something, but she could not hear it over the rumble of the moving island.

"The trolley's started to move," she heard Jou exclaim. She looked over to see him and the others exiting the trolley car.

"The whole island's started to move," Jun jogged towards them.

"Nee-chan! Where did you go?" Daisuke called holding onto V-mon as the ground shook.

"It's an earthquake!" Mimi fell to her knees.

"We were so worried. We woke up and you weren't there," Lunamon wrapped her arms around Jun's middle. "Why are you wet?"

"What is that thing?" Koushiro pointed at the sea serpent.

"Sorry, I needed some fresh air. I fell into the lake," Jun returned Lunamon's hug with one arm while she wrapped the other around Daisuke's shoulders.

"It's Seadramon!" Tentomon told them.

"You what?" Lunamon cried tightening her arms around Jun.

"Doesn't matter. I'm fine," Jun shrugged brushing some of her wet hair out of her face. Instead of sticking up as it usually did the water had caused her hair to hang down around her face

"Taichi!" she and the others jogged towards where the boy and Agumon were standing. "You were supposed to be on watch. What happened?"

"I was! I watched a giant sea dragon burst out of the water without any warning!" Taichi gestured towards Seadramon.

"It seems Seadramon is somehow pulling the island along with him," Koushiro commented.

"Seadramon wouldn't attack without reason. Something must of provoked him," Tentomon stated.

"We've stopped," Agumon pointed out when the sea serpent stopped swimming and in turn the island stopped moving.

"Thank goodness," Lunamon sighed.

"Are you sure you two didn't do anything that would of upset him?" Tentomon bounced forward landing on what Jun thought was a slightly singed large, red leaf.

"We didn't do anything!" Taichi and Agumon chorused. They all stumbled back when the 'leaf' Tentomon was on moved. It was pulled into the water and then flicked back out a couple seconds latter.

"That thing wasn't a leaf. It was Seadramon's tail," Taichi gasped.

"I knew you two must of done something to upset him," Tentomon stated.

They were all knocked off their feet when Seadramon smacked his tail into the island before diving under the water. "He's coming back, and he is not happy," Taichi watched Seadramon's shadow as the digimon cut through the water towards them. The sea serpent disappeared beneath the island and a couple seconds latter the whole piece of land shook violently.

"We're moving so fast!" Jou held onto the side of the trolley cart.

"I'm getting sea sick," Mimi moaned.

"This is almost as bad as the Tilt-a-Whirl," Daisuke cried, looking a little green as the ground shuttered beneath him.

"Don't you dare thrown up on me again!" Jun shrieked. Despite the situation Taichi started snickering as the memory of the incident with the Tilt-a-Whirl at the fair last year surfaced in his mind. Jun's face had been priceless. A work of art that deserved to be framed and hung in a gallery for all to admire. "You shut up! It was your fault!" the magenta haired girl glared as she pointed at Taichi.

The island came to a shaking halt when it crashed into a couple of the electrical towers in the lake. "We've stopped again," Daisuke sighed in relief.

"Yeah, but he left us in the middle of the lake," Taichi told him.

"I don't suppose we could trick him into taking us back," Koushiro frowned.

"Watch out! He's coming back!" Taichi exclaimed as Seadramon lifted his head out of the water and roared at them.

"Come on, guys! Let's send him back to the fishes," Agumon shouted.

"You got it, magical fire!" Piyomon exclaimed.

"Air shot!" Patamon called. Both attacks hit Seadramon but had little to no affect on him.

"Poison ivy," Palmon's vines were too short to reach the sea serpent. Tentomon and Lunamon flew closer to Seadramon and both fired their attacks at him. The two had to quickly fly out of the way when Seadramon lunged at them.

"Baby flame!" Agumon called but his attack had no more affect than the others.

"Agumon, you have to digivolve again," Taichi stated.

"I've been trying, but I can't seem to do it now," Agumon turned to face the boy as he spoke.

"What? Why not?" he demanded.

"I don't know. I just can't!"

"But if you can't become Greymon then how are we going to stop Seadramon?"

"Takeru!" Yamato called. They all turned around to see the blond eleven year old swimming towards the island.

"Yamato-niichan!" Takeru beamed as he ran towards the edge of the island closest to his brother.

"What are you doing in the water?" Jun demanded.

"Yamato-kun, hurry," Sora shouted.

"Be careful, Onii-chan, or the monster will-" Takeru yelped as the island shook and he fell into the lake. Gomamon dove in after him.

"Takeru!" Yamato scanned the water's surface for his brother. Gomamon resurfaced a moment latter with the little boy sitting on his back.

"Way to go, Gomamon!" Jou grinned. Yamato let out a relieved breath. He still had not resumed swimming towards the island.

"Do just float there! Move, Yamato-kun!" Jun cupped her hands around her mouth as she shouted.

"Yeah, pick up the pace!" Taichi exclaimed.

"What are you? My gym teacher," Yamato rolled his eyes.

"Yamato! Seadramon is coming your way," Tentomon called.

"Gomamon, take Takeru back to the island," Yamato instructed.

"You got it," the seal digimon started swimming towards the island.

"Hey, Seadramon, over here you over grown water lizard!" Yamato swam away from the island. Gabumon was quick to follow him.

"Take my hands," Jun held her arms out to Takeru. The little blond boy grabbed a hold of her and she pulled him up onto the island. Jou gave Gomamon a hand up.

"Takeru, are you alright?" Patamon flew towards him. Takeru nodded.

"Are you?" Daisuke tried to grab the other eight year old's arm but instead got his backpack.

"Oh, yes, I nodded," Takeru took Daisuke's hand from his bag and held it. Jun heard Gabumon scream and looked up just in time to see him hit the water beside the island. "Onii-chan!" Takeru shouted when Seadramon dragged Yamato under the water. "It's all my fault. It's because he was trying to help me. I'll never forgive myself!"

"Don't say things like that!" Daisuke pleaded, squeezing Takeru's hand. "Yamato-san wouldn't want you to blame yourself."

"Oh no," Taichi gasped when Seadramon lifted Yamato out of the water his tail tightly wrapped around the boy. Daisuke wanted to cover his ears as Yamato screamed, but instead he held Takeru's now shaking hand in both of his.

"This is bad, very bad," Tentomon stated. "Now Seadramon will never let go. He'll squeeze the breath out of him!"

"Onii-chan, hold on," Takeru shouted with tears in his eyes. "Patamon, please _please_ save my Onii-chan."

"M-my powers won't work against Seadramon. He's too strong for me. I'm sorry, Takeru" Patamon replied.

"V-mon?"

"Sorry, Daishuke, but in the water Seadramon's got a major advantage," V-mon frowned at the ground as he spoke.

"Gabumon, maybe you could..." Patamon turned to the larger digimon.

"How? Seadramon is so much stronger than all of us," Gabumon cried. He looked over when he heard the blond eleven year old scream again as Seadramon tightened his grip on him. "Yamato!" there had to be something he could do, some way he could help Yamato. The mysterious device that Yamato had clipped on his belt lite up.

"Gabumon," Yamato called his voice strained and barely audible.

"Gabumon digivolve to...Garurumon!" He was a giant light blue wolf with dark blue stripes, like the pelt that Gabumon wore.

Garurumon ran to the edge of the island and leapt. He slashed through Seadramon's tail with his claws so that the sea serpent released Yamato. Garurumon then sunk his teeth into the back of Seadramon's snake like body. Seadramon thrashed in the water in an attempt to throw Garurumon off while Yamato quickly swam back to the island. Seadramon hit Garurumon with his tail, knocking the wolf digimon off him. He then used his tail to push Garurumon beneath the surface of the lake.

"Yamato-kun!" Jun and Sora jogged to the edge of the island and helped the blond boy pull himself up.

"Are you alright, Onii-chan?" Takeru pulled Daisuke along with him as he ran towards his brother.

"Yeah, but where's Gabumon?" Yamato's breath came in short quick gasps. Garurumon roared as he burst from the water. He quickly swam away from Seadramon, flicking his tail in the sea serpent's eye when he tried to bite him. Seadramon reared back with a pained cry and tried to hit Garurumon with his tail but missed.

"Garurumon's fur is as strong as the legendary metal Mithril," Tentomon stated.

"Did you just say Mithril?" Daisuke's head perked up. "Like super strong and super valuable metal of the dwarves?"

"As in light as a feather but as hard as dragon scales Mithril?" Koushiro grinned

"What are you two so excited about?" Taichi asked.

"Mithril's a metal from Middle Earth," Koushiro answered. " _Lord of the Rings_ , _The Hobbit_ ," he added in response to Taichi's blank look.

"Oh yeah," recognition lite in Taichi's brown eyes.

"Does it actually exist here?" Daisuke beamed hands clasped together in front of his chest. Koushiro turned his gaze to Tentomon eagerly awaiting his response.

"I said it's legendary. I've never seen it before, so I don't know," Tentomon answered. The two boys deflated.

"I'm not sure if he's being serious or trying to yank our chain," Jun commented.

"Yeah, does it exist or does it not? Which is it, Tentomon?" Taichi huffed.

"I'm just telling you what I heard!"

Seadramon opened his mouth and blew out a freezing breath that covered Garurumon in a layer of ice and froze the water around him. "Oh no, Seadramon's using his lethal ice blast attack," Tentomon exclaimed. Garurumon roared, shattering the ice covering him.

"Howling blaster!" the wolf digimon called, breathing blue flames that burned Seadramon's face. The sea serpent sunk back into the depths of the lake and they all cheered at another threat vanquished. Garurumon was covered in a yellow light and shrunk back to Gabumon. The reptile digimon swam to the island and pulled himself up onto the piece of land.

"Gabumon!" Yamato ran towards the digimon.

"I'm glad to see you're alright," Gabumon smiled.

"Thanks to you, you digivolved to Garurumon just in time," Yamato replied.

"Gabumon, thanks for saving my Onii-chan," Takeru ran towards the digimon and hugged him.

"It...it was my pleasure," Gabumon's cheeks colored as he nuzzled his head against the eight year old's shoulder.

"And thank you too, Yamato-niichan. You were amazing against that monster," Takeru beamed.

"It...it was nothing," the eleven year old's face flushed.

"I told you that you're too shy," Gabumon teased.

"You're one to talk," Yamato huffed, crossing his arms over his chest, but a moment latter he started laughing.

"How are we going to get back to shore?" Jou asked.

"Leave that to me," Gomamon dove into the water. "Marching fishes!" he called and dozens of colorful fish appeared. Together the fish were able to push the island back to the shore.

"Whew, I'm so tired," Mimi yawned as they all stumbled off the island. It was still dark. Jun would guess that it was sometime during the early hours of the morning.

"We won't be going anywhere until we all get some sleep," Jun stated. She sat down with her back against the trunk of a tree and gently pulled Daisuke towards her.

"'Night, Jun-nee," the little boy curled up on the ground beside her with his head pillowed on her lap. V-mon snuggled up beside him. Lunamon settled on Jun's other side and the twelve year old wrapped her arm around the rabbit digimon's shoulders.

"Goodnight, Dai-chan," Jun fondly ran her hand through her brother's fluffy hair.

"Why was Gabumon the only one to digivolve this time?" Koushiro sat down beside the tree Jun was leaning against. Sora had laid down in the grass in front of them.

"Because Yamato-kun was in danger," Sora rolled from her side to her back.

"That could be it," Jun nodded.

"Yeah, I was about to get it when Agumon digivolved," Taichi agreed.

"So that means they can only digivolve when we're in grave danger," Koushiro concluded.

"I see! Oh, Mimi-chan?" Sora looked over as the younger girl slumped against her. She carefully moved Mimi so that she was laying on the ground instead of on her.

"I can sleep here," the girl stated already half asleep.

"You can sleep on the ground now. You've grown, Mimi-chan," Sora smiled.

"She'll soon have a well sculpted body like mine. You'll see," Agumon declared.

"Maybe she'll also grow wings like mine," Piyomon suggested.

"I don't want that," Mimi mumbled before falling completely into slumber. The others soon followed her lead.


	5. A Tangled Web: Lunamon Digivolves!

CHAPTER 5: A Tangled Web: Lunamon Digivolves!

Jun woke up to the sun shinning in her eyes. She blinked several times and brought a hand up to shield her eyes. The sunlight was glittering off the clear blue lake like crystals. It would have been beautiful if it wasn't glaring into her tired eyes. "Oh, you're awake." Jun looked up to see Sora smiling at her.

"I hope I'm not the last one," Jun knew that she wasn't _the_ last one because Daisuke was still sleeping on her lap, but she hoped she wasn't one of the last to get up.

"One of the first actually. Jou-sempai's also up but that's it," Sora replied.

"I'm awake too, Sora!" Piyomon exclaimed as she rubbed her head against Sora's leg. Daisuke's face scrunched up, he mumbled something unintelligible, and shifted in his sleep.

"Keep your voice down. We had a late night. We should let the others sleep," Sora scolded. "A few of the digimon are up too, uh, Tentomon and Palmon."

"Do you know what time it is?" Jun asked. She looked up at the sky, but all she could determine from the position of the sun was that it was morning.

"Seven, eight, I'm not really sure, Sempai," Sora answered. Jun looked around and spotted Jou sitting down by the lake skipping stones.

"Ask Kido-kun he always wears a watch," Jun rolled her stiff neck and shoulders as she spoke. Sleeping sitting against a tree was in no ways comfortable.

"Already did. It's not working," Sora stated as she sat down across from the older girl.

"Bet this isn't how you planned on spending your summer," Jun commented lightly.

"Didn't even cross my mind," Sora chuckled.

There was a heavier conversation lurking just below the surface about where they were, how they would get home, _if_ they could get home. Jun thought of her mother who had been so reluctant to let her and Daisuke go to camp and how terrified she would be when she learned they were missing. Her thoughts settled like a physical weight on her chest. She took note of Jou's dour expression as he sat by the lake and the worried pinch at the corners of Sora's eyes and knew that they were having similar thoughts. Jun started running her hand through her little brother's thick air. The action helped settle her worries. Daisuke was okay, she was okay, despite multiple monsters trying to make it otherwise they were all okay, and that was the most important thing.

"I feel like I've fallen down the rabbit's hole and woken up in Wonderland." Jun smiled. She did not appreciate being attack by monsters and the possibility that she would never see her mother again was one too devastating to dwell on but there was no denying that there was something magical about this strange world they had found themselves in.

"The last day has been like something out of a fairy tale," Sora just hoped it was one with a happy ending.

The others soon started to wake up as well. "Good morning," Jun said to Lunamon when the rabbit digimon roused from her sleep.

"It certainly is a great morning even!" Lunamon beamed.

"And what makes it so great?" the twelve year old giggled.

"You're with me," Lunamon stated without a hint of hesitation. Jun gaped at the digimon, surprised but touched by the declaration.

"I'm happy you're here too," and she meant it. She had grown rather fond of Lunamon since their meeting the day before.

"Jun!" Lunamon launched herself into Jun's arms. The twelve year old laughed as she hugged the digimon back.

"No, don't wanna get up," Daisuke mumbled. Jun looked down at her little brother and started poking his cheek. His face scrunched up in protest and he buried it against V-mon. The dragon digimon groggily blinked his eyes open.

"Come on, Daisuke, get up," Jun prodded.

"Never," he hugged V-mon closer.

"Daishuke?" the dragon digimon muttered. He was still half asleep, but he hugged the little boy back.

"You're speaking to me. You're pretty much awake already," Jun stated.

"Am not."

"Are to."

"Am not."

"Are to."

"Am not!" Daisuke sat up, mouth set into a scowl and burgundy hair sticking up like crazy.

"You are to, Dai-chan," Jun grinned smugly – and though her brother could not see it she was sure her tone carried the expression – and ruffled his hair trying to tame his wild locks but really only making it worse. The little boy pouted but did not protest as she tried in earnest to fix his hair into something that didn't look like he just walked through a tornado.

Taichi was _the_ last one to get up. The other had started talking about what to do for breakfast. "I think we should only eat the emergency rations if we have no other options for food," Jou stated as he cleaned his glasses with the hem of his sweater vest.

"It would be best to save them for when we really need them," Yamato nodded. His hands were buried in the pockets of his jeans as he leaned against the trunk of a tree.

"Not like they would be my first choice anyways. Those crackers are drier than the desert," Sora commented.

"I don't want to have fish again," Mimi stated. She was sitting primly on a large rock as she brushed her hair.

"We don't have to," Jun shrugged. "With the digimon's help we can gather fruits, mushrooms, and other edible plants from the forest."

"Hear that, Mimi? We get to go mushroom picking again," Palmon beamed as she twirled in a circle.

"I've never had to do so much work for my meals before," the ten year old sighed. She placed her brush back in her bag and put on her pink cowgirl hat.

"I think it's fun!" Takeru declared.

"Yeah, I liked fishing," Daisuke grinned clasping his hands together.

Jun glanced over to see that Taichi was still sprawled in the grass snoring. While she and the others started putting together breakfast she sent Daisuke with V-mon to go wake him up, so Taichi got to wake up to an eight year old sitting on his chest and patting his face not so gently. "Ugh, what's...hm?" Taichi mumbled blinking his eyes open.

"You gotta wake up, Taichi-nii!" the little boy's voice was full of sunshine as he bounced on Taichi's chest and came dangerously close to hitting him in the eye.

"Daisuke...why?" Taichi groaned. His voice slightly muffled because Daisuke's hand hit his mouth while he was trying to speak.

"Were getting ready to have breakfast, and Jun-neechan says that if you don't get up you don't get any," Daisuke told him. Yeah, that sounded like Jun.

"Okay, I'm up, I'm up. You can stop hitting me now," Taichi stated. The little boy sat back on his chest and grinned.

"Good morning, Taichi-nii," he chirped innocently.

The nine children and nine digimon soon sat down to have breakfast talking amongst themselves as they ate. Jun noticed that Jou was hanging back from the conversation, and he was gloomily rolling around the berries in front of him instead of eating them. "We'll find a way back home, Kido-kun," Jun smiled. Jou looked up at her and blew out a slow breath before speaking.

"I dreamed I was at home getting ready for school. It felt so real, but then I woke up to find we're still here."

"Sounds more like a nightmare to me," Taichi snorted.

"Some of us like going to school, Taichi-san," Koushiro stated.

"Sora, Sora," Piyomon sang. "What's school?" she asked when the girl looked at her.

"Well..." the eleven year old went on to explain school to the digimon.

"There was talking ice cream in my dream," Daisuke told them.

"What did it say?" Mimi asked.

"'Please don't eat me. I'm alive.' It was really hot, but no way was I going to eat living ice cream. Instead we became friends and went on an adventure to the Arctic so he wouldn't melt." They all stared at the little boy for several moments.

"Couldn't you of just found a freezer?" Yamato suggested.

"Huh? I didn't even consider that. Guess that probably would have been easier. I wouldn't of had to fight that giant snowman," Daisuke replied, completely serious. Jou snorted and smiled ever so slightly.

"Did you beat the snowman?" Takeru wanted to know. He leaned forward so that he could see the other eight year old better.

"With the help of the sun," he grinned.

"Can you see in your dreams?" Koushiro questioned.

"I dream as I live," Daisuke shook his head.

"I see," Koushiro mused. His dark eyes widened a moment latter when what he said registered to him. "Oh, I'm sorry. That was a poor choice of words."

"No it wasn't. You don't have to be scared of words like 'see.' They don't bite," the little boy giggled.

Once everyone was finished eating Taichi stood up. "Alright, let's get going!"

"Going where?" Yamato rested his forearms on the knees of his crossed legs.

"We're not going to find a way home sitting around here," Taichi replied.

"We don't know what we'll find in that forest–"

"Probably more monsters," Yamato snorted.

"We have a good campsite here with fresh water and food," Jou finished.

"What about Seadramon?" Takeru asked.

"Seadramon only attacked because Taichi and Agumon burned his tail," Tentomon answered.

"It was an accident!" the two chorused.

"He shouldn't attack again unless you do something else to upset him."

"Then I suggest we stay here. It'll make it easier for the search party to find us," Jou stood up griping the strap of his bag in both hands.

"What search party?" Sora asked.

"The one that the camp counselors have surely organized by now!"

"I doubt they'll find us," Jun pressed the lid down on her plastic container. It was now empty of strawberries but filled with round, red berries. She wasn't one for denial. She accepted things for what they were, and if they were bad she did her best to make them better. She looked up at Jou and spoke gently, "I'm not even sure we're on Earth."

"Wh...what are you saying, Jun-chan? We're on another planet? Like, like what...Mars! That's insane!" Jou ran both his hands through his hair.

"Mars," Koushiro snorted. "That's preposterous! Mars is incapable of supporting human life. We're more likely to be on a terrestrial exoplanet that resides within the circumstellar habitable zone and has an Earth-like atmosphere than we are to be on Mars."

"Plain speak, Izumi," Taichi requested.

"A planet outside our solar system that could potentially support life as we know it."

"Oh, so now we're not even in our solar system!" Jou was on the verge of a full blown freak out.

"Chill out, Jou, just breath," Gomamon patted his leg.

"This doesn't mean we can't go home it just means that we're probably going to have to find the way ourselves," Jun stood up and laid a hand on his shoulder.

"How can you be certain?" he asked.

"We ended up here somehow so there must be a way to go back and I won't stop looking till I find it," Jun grinned.

"Do you really think we could be on a, uh, alien planet?" Sora turned towards Koushiro.

"It's a reasonable hypothesis, but I can't say for certain. The flora and fauna isn't, to my considerable knowledge, anything that's found on Earth, but the phone booths, the trolley car, and language are a different story."

"So we could still be on Earth, maybe not Japan, but Earth?" Jou demanded.

"I suppose it is possible. I just don't know," Koushiro frowned and shook his head. "Right now all I can do is speculate. If we want definitive answers we're going to have to gather more information about this place. I'm in agreement with Taichi-san. We should continue to explore this land."

"I am too. What about the rest of you?" Jun asked.

"I'm up for it," Sora nodded.

"I don't want to walk anymore," Mimi whined.

"You want to be stuck here forever?" Yamato crossed his arms over his chest.

"I don't want that either," the ten year old sighed.

"Jou-sempai?" Sora looked at the twelve year old.

"If we keep looking maybe we'll find some real people," Jou suggested.

"Jou..." Gomamon trailed.

"In fact, I'm sure of it!" he declared. Jun sighed shifting her weight to her right leg and placing her hand on her hip.

"Okay, let's go!" Taichi pumped his fist in the air as he spun on his heels.

"Daishuke," V-mon bumped his arm against Daisuke's. The little boy nodded with a large smile and linked their arms together.

"Which way will we go?" Sora asked.

"The same way we were going."

(Page Break)

They had been walking through the forest for around an hour. V-mon was paying close attention to their surroundings, making sure that he led Daisuke around all obstacles in the little boy's path. V-mon was also trying to pay attention to what his partner was saying and be an active part of the conversation. He had found it challenging at first to divide his attention, but he was getting the hang of it. "Buildings that touch the clouds?" the dragon repeated as he led Daisuke around a thorn bush.

"That's why they're called skyscrapers," the eight year old smiled. V-mon glanced in front of them. They were coming up on a large tree with shallow roots that poked out of the ground in multiple places but at that moment their immediate path was clear. V-mon looked up and watched a fluffy white cloud as it floated across the bright blue sky. It seemed so far away. He found the idea of a building that tall fantastical.

"Are there a lot of skyscrapers where you come from?" V-mon looked in front of them. "Step high, there's a root."

"Okay," Daisuke did as V-mon instructed. "Yeah, I live in a city so there are lots of skyscrapers like a whole forest of them."

"Wow," the dragon breathed as he tried to imagine that. "Do you live in a skyscraper?"

"My apartment building isn't that tall," Daisuke shook his head.

Taichi pushed his way through some bushes then stopped. He looked left and right before turning to face the others. "What is it, Taichi?" Jun asked.

"It's a path," he answered. The magenta haired girl slipped past the bushes and sure enough Taichi was standing in the middle of a dirt footpath that intersected with the way they had been going.

"Where do you think it leads?" Sora wondered as looked down the path to the right.

"Maybe a town," Yamato shrugged.

"Oh, I hope wherever it leads has beds and showers," Mimi commented.

"Do we follow it? It doesn't lead in the direction we were going," Koushiro pointed out.

"Of course we follow it. A path will lead us to civilization much quicker than aimlessly wandering through this forest," Jou stated.

"True, but which way should we go, left or right?" Sora asked.

"As long as I'm with you, Sora, I don't care where I am," Piyomon latched onto one of Sora's hands. The eleven year old looked at the digimon and sighed.

"Do you know where it goes, Patamon?" Takeru looked up at the digimon that was perched on top of his green hat.

"I don't," he shook his head. None of the digimon did.

"As far as I can see the paths look pretty much the same in both directions," Jun commented.

"Then let's look further," Taichi tossed his monocular into the air and caught it before bringing it to his right eye. "Huh, a large deadfall blocks the way," he looked right first then turned around. "This way's clear. Left it is then," he pocketed his monocular and started walking.

"Sounds good to me," Jun shrugged as she and the others followed him.

Jun uncapped her water bottle and took a sip. They had been walking for quite some time, but there had been little change to the path or the surrounding forest. She held the bottle out to Lunamon. "Thank you," the digimon took it. She had a drink then handed it back.

"Daisuke, you thirsty?" Jun turned towards her brother and V-mon since the dragon had pretty much attached himself to the little boy's side. Daisuke nodded and she handed him the bottle. He held it with both his hands as he drank.

"What about you, V-mon?" he asked.

"I'm good," the digimon shook his head.

"Nee-chan," Daisuke held the water bottle away from himself. Jun took it and screwed the lid on before putting it back in her backpack.

"Oh my poor feet. I can't go much further," Mimi pressed one of the water bottles from the emergency supplies to her forehead. It was not that cold, but it still felt good.

"You can do it, Mimi," Palmon smiled.

"I don't think I can," the ten year old cried. "Ah!" she shrieked a moment latter.

"Mimi-chan!" the others all jerked to a halt and looked at her.

"What's wrong, Mimi-san?" Koushiro asked.

"Spider web! In my hair! Get it off! Get it off!" she screamed frantically waving her hands in the air.

"Ah, h-hold still," he walked towards her. Mimi gripped the skirt of her dress, bottom lip quivering, and eyes glassy as she dipped her head a bit so that Koushiro could more easily reach the spider web caught in the lock of her hair that fell over her left shoulder. He quickly pulled the pieces of web from her hair.

"There," he took a step back once he was finished.

"Are you sure you got it all?" she demanded.

"I am," he nodded. Mimi let out a relieved breath and ran her hands through her hair.

"Thank you, Koushiro-kun."

Agumon looked at the two ten year olds then turned his gaze to the forest behind them. He noted several spider webs built into the branches of the trees. "Huh?" Jun looked up when a shadow fell over them. She was surprised to see that the sky was no longer a deep blue but instead blanketed in dark gray clouds.

"It smells like rain," Gabumon sniffed the air.

"Looks like it too," Yamato turned his gaze to the sky.

"They gathered awfully fast. The sky was clear just a moment ago," Sora commented. A chilly wind picked up and Jun grabbed her skirt to stop it from billowing up.

"The temperature's dropped rather quickly as well," Koushiro frowned, brow creased as he looked up at the overcast sky.

"It's cold," Daisuke leaned closer to V-mon.

"Well this is just terrible! It's about to storm and we're stuck in the middle of nowhere with no shelter," Jou exclaimed.

"Maybe it'll be a refreshing summer shower," Taichi grinned. He started – they all did – a moment latter when lightening streaked across the sky followed by the booming of thunder.

"You were saying?" Jou asked dryly.

"So we're going to get a little rained on. What's the big deal?" Taichi shrugged lacing his fingers behind his head.

"What's...what's the big deal? Well for one we could all get sick, and for another it could be more than _just_ rain. What happens if it starts hailing or a lightening strike causes a forest fire?" Jou shouted, gesturing wildly with his hands as he spoke.

"You know something, Jou-san: you worry too much," the eleven year old stated.

"Why, ugh, you...guah!" Jou tried to reply but it just came out as angry gibberish.

"Stop it you two," Jun planted her fists on her hips and sent pointed looks at the two boys.

"But he...ah!" Jou gestured towards Taichi.

"Is an idiot-"

"Hey!" Taichi protested.

"You learn to live with it," Jun stated.

"Well you're bossy and you've got it backwards, Jun. _I_ had to learn to live with _you,_ " he huffed crossing his arms over his chest. Jun snorted a laugh.

"You'd be lost without me!" she tilted her chin up confidently with a large smile.

"I...I would not!" Taichi's cheeks flushed. Jun opened her mouth to reply, but what she was going to say was forgotten as it started to rain.

"We really should look for shelter," Koushiro shouted over the rumble of thunder.

"We should," Jun nodded, a bit embarrassed. That was the point she had intended to make when she interrupted Taichi and Jou's argument but instead she had gotten caught up in bickering with Taichi.

"Taichi, look," Agumon pointed into the forest to the right of them.

"Hm, what is it, Agumon?" Taichi used his hand to shield his eyes from the rain as he looked towards where the dinosaur was gesturing. The trees grew thick and with the rain coming down it was hard to see anything. "I don't-"

"Yellow! A yellow blanket!" Takeru exclaimed. Taichi spotted the bright yellow fabric a moment latter. It was caught on a branch of a tree roughly fifteen yards from the path. Behind and to the right of the fluttering piece of fabric Taichi could make out what he was sure even through the sheet of rain was the corner of a building.

"There's a house!"

"Seriously?" Sora's cherry red eyes widened.

"Are you sure it's a house?" Yamato peered into the trees.

"Well maybe not a house but it's definitely a building of some sort," Taichi shrugged.

"I don't care what it is as long as it has a roof," Mimi stated using the back of her left hand to lift the wide brim of her hat which had been pushed down by the rain. She stepped off the path and started making her way towards the building.

"Wait up, Mimi!" Palmon hurried after the girl.

"Daisuke," Jun's voice was drowned out by a particularly loud roll of thunder. She placed her hand on his back in time to feel her little brother start at the booming sound.

"Let's go," V-mon gave a light tug on Daisuke's arm and the two walked into the forest. Jun walked behind them keeping a hold on the back of Daisuke's short sleeved hoodie.

Lunamon lifted a low hanging branch that was in Jun's way. "Thanks," the twelve year old smiled.

"Whoa!" Daisuke slipped on a rock made slick by the rain. Jun tightened her grip on his hoodie and grabbed onto a nearby tree branch with her free hand.

"Daishuke," V-mon tried to steady the little boy. Daisuke grabbed onto the dragon and after a moment he had regained his balance.

"You okay, Daisuke?" Jun asked.

"I'm good," the eight year old nodded.

Jun relaxed her grip on Daisuke's hoodie and let go of the tree branch. She grimaced when something sticky stuck to her hand. She looked to see a spider web wrapped around it. She waved her hand in the air to try and knock the web off. "Nasty things aren't they?" she glanced over to see Yamato brushing a web off his shoulder. Jou yelped and they both looked to see him taking off his glasses and trying to wipe off the spider web that he had walked into.

"Definitely," Jun snorted giving her hand one last shake to make sure the web was completely gone.

"What's nasty?" Daisuke asked.

"Spider webs, they're all over this forest," Jun explained.

"Are there spiders? If so it's a good thing Kaa-chan's not here." their mother was _terrified_ of spiders because when she was a child there had been a couple boys at her school who would harass her by throwing daddy long-leg spiders at her.

"Not that I've seen," Jun replied.

She arrived at the fluttering piece of yellow fabric and started to push it out of her way but stopped when her fingers felt the material. She looked over and studied the yellow fabric. It was lustrous and smooth to the touch. It was a bright, sun yellow with a woven floral design in a lighter yellow. It was rectangular in shape but too small to be a blanket unless it was meant for a baby. There were tassels along the bottom edge in the same color as the design and a loop along the top that made Jun think it was most likely a curtain.

"Nee-chan?" Daisuke became aware that Jun had stopped when he felt a tug on his hoodie.

"Just a moment," Jun let go of his hoodie and started working on getting the fabric free from the tree branch it was caught on.

"What is it, Jun?" Lunamon asked as she helped the twelve year old get the fabric free.

"This is..." once the fabric was free Jun struggled with the wind to get it folded. "This is well made. It shouldn't be left in the rain."

"I wanna feel," Daisuke held out his free hand. Jun took it and placed it on the curtain she was holding. Her little brother ran his hand over the smooth material. "Silk?"

"Yeah, I'd need to look at it closer and out of this rain to know for sure, but I think it's real."

Taichi arrived at the building he had spotted from the path. He was pretty sure it was a house. It was a single story, wooden building with a steep shingled roof that had long, slightly curved eaves and a number of windows. He stepped onto the porch and out of the rain. The others were quick to follow. Taichi looked around while Jou knocked on the sliding front door. The house was set in a small clearing in the forest, there was a well tended garden out front, and a narrow stone path leading deeper into the forest. Then there was Jun, Daisuke, and their digimon still standing at the tree line having a conversation in the pouring rain. "Jun, Daisuke! What are you guys doing?" he called. The magenta haired girl looked towards him and her face was illuminated as lightening flashed across the sky followed closely by the boom of thunder. She placed her hand on Daisuke's back, and the four of them rushed towards the house.

"No one's answering," Jou stated despairingly

"I guess no one's home," Daisuke commented.

"The windows are dark," Yamato nodded.

"I'm still getting rained on," Mimi cried. The porch roof did give them shelter from the worst of the onslaught but because of the wind a lot of raindrops were being blown under the roof.

"Is the door locked?" Taichi walked towards the front door and reached for the handle.

"We are not breaking in," Jou grabbed his wrist.

"Relax, we won't break anything," Taichi shook Jou off and tried the door. It opened without resistance revealing a small entryway with linoleum floors. The walls were of the same wood as the exterior and a red curtain blocked the rest of the inside of the house from view.

"We still shouldn't enter. We haven't been invited," Jou protested.

"Onii-chan, I'm cold," Takeru tugged on the hem of Yamato's shirt.

"We really could get sick if we stay out here," Jun pointed out.

"When the owners return we'll explain our situation to them. I'm sure they'll understand," Koushiro said. He was happy that his laptop case was water proof, but that did not mean he wanted to continue standing in the rain.

"This is an emergency," Sora nodded. They all yelped when a strong gust of wind splattered them with freezing rain water.

"Fine," Jou relented. "But we must be careful not to do any damage to this home."

Taichi entered the house and pushed back the red curtain. He slipped his shoes off before stepping up onto the raised wooden floor of the rest of the house. The others filed in behind him. "These boots really aren't meant to get wet. They're probably going to be damaged now," Mimi pouted as she set her shoes down next to the others.

"How could water be bad for something?" Palmon gasped. "Water brings life."

"Well water ruins my shoes," Mimi replied.

"My socks are wet too," Daisuke sat on the edge of the raised floor sock clad feet hovering over the floor of the entryway. He drew his feet closer to him and pulled his socks off. He started to stuff them into his shoes but Jun stopped him.

"Don't wad them up. They won't dry well like that," she knelt beside her brother and tapped his hand. "Lay your socks on top of your shoes." Daisuke nodded and did as she said.

Koushiro looked around the dark interior of the house. With the help of several flashes of lightening he was able to gather that they were standing in a sitting room that had a large window along the back wall whose curtains were pushed half way open. There were no chairs but several large pillows sitting on a rug around a low table. There were several long draperies that hung from the roof to the floor where one would expect walls to be. He pushed aside the closest curtain – made of a silky material in a rich purple color – and found another room walled off in the same fashion. His eyes darted to the left when he thought he saw movement. A curtain was swaying slightly. A draft. He dismissed it. "Curious, it appears curtains have been used to separate the house into rooms," he turned back to the others.

"The choice of interior design is a little odd, but the outside looks like a Japanese house. We must still be on Earth. I bet there are even humans living here," Jou stated.

"Well if there are they aren't here now," Yamato snorted.

"Sora, Sora," Piyomon singsonged. "Do you live in a place like this?"

"No, I live in an apartment," she answered absently as she walked around the sitting room looking at the differently colored and designed draperies. In some places they were doubled up with elaborate pictorial tapestries hanging over more simple curtains.

"Hey, hey, what's an apartment?" the bird digimon tugged on her hand. Sora sighed, tearing her gaze away from a tapestry depicting a cheery festival scene to look at Piyomon.

"It's..."

"I wish it wasn't so dark. It's spooky," Mimi cried. "Isn't there a light switch?"

"I didn't see one," Yamato replied. He and many of the others started looking around for one. While they were doing that Daisuke walked deeper into the house with V-mon. His arm brushed against one of the curtains and he stopped to feel the material.

"It's silk too," he stated.

"This is probably where the curtain in the forest came from," V-mon felt the curtain as well.

"I'll tell Jun-neechan. I'm sure the owners will be happy to have it returned," Daisuke grinned.

"And less likely to be mad at us for entering their home," the dragon nudged the little boy and the two of them giggled.

"There is!" Takeru pointed to a light switch on one of the walls of the entryway. It was lower than Jun would of expected, being around chest height on her, and that must of been why none of them had spotted it in their rush to get inside and out of the rain. Yamato reached over and flicked it on, and the house was illuminated by several strands of white Christmas lights that were draped between the network of curtain rods that kept the fabric walls up.

"Wow! It's so pretty," Mimi clasped her hands together.

"Makes me feel like it's Christmas time," Takeru smiled.

"What does?" Daisuke tilted his head to the side.

"The house is lite using Christmas lights. They make me think of fireflies and give the house a mystical feel," Jun explained.

"And these pillows are divine," Mimi sat down on a large, pink cushion in front of the low table and hugged a cylindrical throw pillow to her chest. "Such a lovely home! I can't wait to meet the owners. They have fine tastes."

"Ah, Nee-chan, I need to tell you before I forget," Daisuke said.

"Tell me what?" Jun asked.

"The curtain you picked up. Me and V-mon think it came from here."

"That makes sense. I'll be sure to return it," Jun nodded draping the yellow curtain over her right arm.

Koushiro sat down across from Mimi. He pulled his laptop out of its case and placed it on the low table. He tried starting it up again. It wouldn't turn on. Tentomon landed beside him and Gomamon was sprawled on one of the throw pillows. Koushiro pulled out his cell phone and digital camera and gave them a try as well. "No luck," he sighed. Palmon and Takeru were both standing with their hands on the sill of the large window along the back wall as they watched the storm rage outside. Patamon was still perched on top of Takeru's hat. Yamato was standing nearby talking to Sora and Jou. Gabumon, Agumon, and Piyomon were having their own conversation.

Jun was studying a tapestry picturing a sheer, white cliff by the sea. There were a handful of fluffy clouds in the sky, a sailboat floating on the water, and a couple having a picnic under a tree on the top of the cliff. "It's beautiful," Lunamon floated next to the twelve year old.

"It's stunning," Jun breathed. "The work of a master," she gently ran her fingers over the silky, red threads that made up the picnic blanket the couple was sitting on. "All of this is," she looked around the sitting room.

"To bad your Kaa-san's not here to see it," Taichi looked up from where he was sitting on the floor with Daisuke and V-mon. Akemi was the owner of Spring's Blossoms Boutique a specialty shop where she sold the textile arts she made including but not limited to clothing, quilts, amigurumi, and tapestries.

"Huh?" V-mon looked over when movement in the corner of his eye caught his attention. A blue curtain was swaying slightly.

"She'd love it," Jun smiled. She looked up when a particularly loud roll of thunder sounded and the lights flickered.

"You entered this house without being invited," what emerged from behind one of the draperies was neither woman nor spider but something monstrous in between. The digimon regarded her cautiously as the children all drew back from the horrific figure. Except for Daisuke who only heard the creature's melodious voice. The little boy fiddled with the sleeves of his hoodie pulling them down over his hands as he smiled bashfully.

"Sorry, the storm was getting so bad and this was-" The spider woman turned her sharp gaze to the little boy as he spoke. She did not look to be in a forgiving mood.

"Daisuke, get back," Taichi stood up pulling Daisuke with him. He pushed the eight year old behind him, V-mon moved in front of them defensively, and Jun rushed to her brother's side dropping the yellow curtain in the process.

"What's wrong?" Daisuke asked.

"It's Jorogumon. She's a-" Tentomon began.

"Spider!" Mimi shrieked.

Jorogumon had the general shape of a giant spider, but many of her features were that of a human woman. She had the thorax of a woman clad in a red kimono with gold borders. It had been altered to fit her form – cutting off just below her rib cage and giving way to her round, spider abdomen and having eight sleeves for her four pairs of spindly, unnaturally long arms which she walked on with her elbows pointed out and her hands pointed in. She had silky, pure white hair and a partially human face. She had four sets of eyes. One set looked like human eyes with red irises. The other three were completely red. Two sets were stacked on her forehead and the third sat at her temples. Her chin split apart into a pair of hooked fangs and above them a row of small, pearly white teeth could be seen.

"You've wandered where you do not belong, and you won't be leaving alive," Jorogumon's voice was deceptively calm soothing even. "Spider bite!" she fired two black colored fangs from her mouth.

"Mimi!" Palmon pushed the girl out of the way gasping when one of the fangs hit her in the side. Gabumon darted out of the way of the second fang and it imbedded in the wood flooring.

"Palmon!" Mimi caught the plant digimon as she collapsed.

"Magical fire," Piyomon flew into the air and fired the attack. Jorogumon darted out of the way of the green flames and one of the curtains caught fire.

"Spider bite." Piyomon dodged the first fang but the second one caught her in the left wing. She took a sharp breath as her whole body seized and she fell towards the ground. She crashed into Jou and the twelve year old yelped as he fell to the floor with the bird digimon on his back.

"Fire!" Jun pointed at the burning curtain.

"I've got it, tear shot!" the water attack hit the flames putting them out.

"Baby flame," Agumon called. Jorogumon flattened herself to the ground and the ball of fire soared over her head hitting the red curtain that blocked off the entryway.

"Are you trying to burn this whole place down?" Taichi gestured towards the now burning curtain.

"Tear shot," Lunamon put out the fire leaving a wet curtain with a giant hole in the middle that was blackened at the edges.

"Boom bubble!" Jorogumon darted forward the attack missing her.

"So fast!" Jun pulled Daisuke closer to her.

"Binding web," using her front pair of arms Jorogumon grabbed her hair and pulled the silky strands lengthening. She flicked her wrists and the strands whipped forward wrapping around Agumon and Patamon.

"Petit thu-" Jorogumon pulled her right hand down yanking Patamon through the air and smashing him into Tentomon. She released the strands she was holding in that hand and the two digimon collided with Yamato and Takeru when they crashed into the ground.

Yamato tried to move but found himself stuck. "So sticky. I can't move," Takeru exclaimed.

"Ah, this doesn't make sense," Tentomon stated.

"Yamato," Gabumon started to run towards them. Jorogumon yanked on the threads she was holding in her left hand sending Agumon stumbling into Gabumon the two fell into where Sora was knelt beside Jou with an unconscious Piyomon on her lap.

"What about this doesn't make sense?" Koushiro shouted over a crack of thunder. He stood up from where he was knelt beside the low table with Mimi who was holding Palmon on her lap.

"V-mon head," the blue dragon rammed into Jorogumon side. She gasped and stumbled.

"Jorogumon is a well mannered if reclusive digimon-"

"Tear shot!" Lunamon called the attack smacking into Jorogumon's back.

"It's not in her nature to attack strangers. She'd more likely hide from us!"

"Away from me," the spider woman hissed as she drew back and pushed V-mon away from her with three of her hands.

"Well something set her off," the dragon grunted as he stumbled back.

"Spider bite!" Lunamon yelped as she flew closer to the ceiling so that the fang soared under her. V-mon rolled out of the path of the second.

"Perha...!"

"Get down!" Gomamon pushed Koushiro out of the way of the second fang. The seal digimon cried out when the fang hit him in the side. Koushiro hit the ground on his knees next to Mimi. He grabbed the girl's shoulders to steady himself.

"Gomamon," Jou called from where he was stuck to Gabumon, Agumon, Sora, and Piyomon. Koushiro turned around and checked on Gomamon. The digimon was unresponsive but breathing.

"He's unconscious!"

"Why won't Palmon wake up," Mimi cried as she hugged the plant digimon.

V-mon charged at Jorogumon, "V-mon-"

"Spider bite!" V-mon dodged the first fang. His scarlet eyes widened when he spotted the second a moment before it hit him in the shoulder. He cried out and collapsed to the ground.

"V-mon?" Daisuke shouted. "Is V-mon okay?"

"Tear shot!" Jorogumon darted out of the way of the attack.

"He's been knocked out," Jun answered.

"Binding web," the spider woman flicked her wrists catching Lunamon in the sticky, silky strands. She pulled her hands down. Lunamon gave a short shout as she was yanked out of the air and sent crashing towards Jun, Daisuke, and Taichi.

"Will he-" the little boy began.

"Daisuke!" Jun wrapped her arms around her brother and dove out of the way. Lunamon smacked into Taichi's chest sending the eleven year old falling back.

Daisuke winced as the back of his head bounced against the floor. "You alright?" Jun pushed herself up onto her elbows. Daisuke touched the tender spot on the back of his head. Not bleeding.

"'m fine," he scooted back and sat up. Jun tried to pull her legs towards her to sit up on her knees but found that she couldn't. She looked over her shoulder to see that her legs were pinned under Taichi and Lunamon.

"Taichi, get off me," Jun tried to yank her legs free to no avail.

"I can't! I'm stuck!" Taichi tried to move but just ended up wiggling like a fish out of water.

"Idiot," Jun muttered. She pushed off the ground sitting back with her rear next to her legs and her torso twisted awkwardly so that she was facing Taichi and Lunamon. It was an uncomfortable position but bearable. Taichi had tried to catch Lunamon and now she and his arms were bound in the sticky web. Several of the silky threads had billowed out wrapping around Taichi's back and Jun's legs below the knees.

"I'm sorry, Jun," tears pooled in Lunamon's rosy eyes.

"You did your best," Jun shook her head.

Jorogumon looked around the room at all the trapped digimon and children. They would need to be disposed of. Her gaze rested on the little boy with burgundy hair. "You did not draw back from me in fear and disgust," she moved towards him. Outside the thunderstorm continued to rage.

"Daisuke!" Jun and the others shouted. She pulled out her pocket knife and started working on cutting the web.

"Nee-chan," he got to his feet and took a step in his sister's direction. A hand grabbed him. Spindly fingers closing around his arm. "Jun-nee!" he tried to pull away but Jorogumon's grip was strong.

"Let him go!" Jun struggled to cut away the strong, sticky strands.

Jorogumon yanked Daisuke closer and grabbed his jaw. His face was now pointed towards hers, but he was not seeing her. "But that's because your eyes are dead," with a third hand she gently traced around the outside of one of his never focusing eyes. He was afraid. His eyes did not say it but the rest of him did.

"We only wanted shelter from the rain. We meant no harm," he tried to pull away. It did not take much of her strength to keep him in place. Yet he still fought. He was so small so young. Perhaps...no! They entered her home without permission. Then had the audacity to look at her like she was a monster. They _defiled_ her _sanctuary._ Daisuke cried out as her hold on him tightened to painful levels. Instead of horrifying her the sound fanned the anger burning in her chest. She would kill them all.

Jun tore out of the web and pushed herself to her feet. There were still threads sticking to her, but she could move so it didn't matter. She ran towards Daisuke and Jorogumon. With each step the strands of the web still wrapped around her right boot tried to stick to the floor but never with enough strength to stop her. Jun's pocket knife was now bound to her hand. She didn't care. She wasn't done with it anyways. "I said: Let. Him. Go!" Jun stabbed Jorogumon in the side between her first and second arm on the left side. The blade cut through flesh and grated against something hard.

Jorogumon hissed lashing out at Jun with two of her arms. "Jun!" Lunamon cried, struggling against the web that trapped her. Jun stumbled back a couple steps till her back thumped against the tapestry with the beach scene. She glanced briefly at Lunamon, fear and determination shinning in her eyes, before focusing on Jorogumon and her brother. The spider woman released Daisuke and pushed him away from her.

"Daisuke, come here," Jun grabbed her little brother's arm and pulled him behind her.

"You..." Jorogumon seethed as she pressed one of her hands to the bleeding wound. She bled green. "You're going to regret that."

"Run, Sempai!" Sora shouted. Jun shook her head. Jorogumon was too fast. She would be caught in no time.

"Nee-chan," Daisuke held onto the back of her shirt. At least like this she was between her little brother and the spider woman. Jorogumon would have to go through her first to get to Daisuke.

"I don't think I am," she clenched her hands into fists – the handle of her pocket knife biting into her palm – to hide their shaking. "Heh, I'm pretty proud actually," she grinned.

"Don't taunt her, Jun-chan! Are you crazy?" Jou exclaimed.

"Insolent child!" Jorogumon spat. "You'll find yourself mistaken."

"Don't hurt Jun! Don't you dare hurt her!" Lunamon shouted.

"Spider bite!"

"Jun!"

"Lunamon," Jun whispered closing her eyes. The mysterious device clipped to the strap of her backpack lite up. Lunamon was covered in a white light and the web binding her and Taichi evaporated.

"Lunamon digivolve to...Lekismon!" She darted forward grabbing Daisuke and Jun and carrying them out of the path of the attack. Behind them the two black fangs hit the tapestry.

"Lunamon...I mean Lekismon," Jun looked up at the digimon with wide eyes.

"Are you alright, Jun, Daisuke?" Lekismon nodded and set the Motomiya siblings down.

"You digivolved? What do you look like now?" the little boy asked.

Lekismon looked like a rabbit but one much larger than Lunamon – about the size of an adult woman. She wore a sleek, blue breastplate from the back of which extended six flexible tubes with rounded ends. She had on black gloves with golden crescent moons on them and around her neck was a metal belt buckled in front of her chest with the same moon pin she had as Lunamon. She had a round face the upper half of which was covered by a metal mask kept in place by a pink ribbon. There were holes for her eyes which were still pink and the antenna that still extended from her forehead. She had two more completely white antenna that sat at the outside of a pair of blue stripped rabbit ears that stuck up. She had four more smaller rabbit ears that were stripped yellow and stuck out from the sides of her head – two on each side – where human ears would be located.

"She looks great," Jun grinned.

"You celebrate too soon. You think this changes anything? I won't be defeated by the likes of you!" Jorogumon's voice started off relatively calm but got more and more angry as she spoke.

"We'll see," Lekismon turned to face the spider woman.

"Spider bite!" Jorogumon shouted. Lekismon moved her hands as if she was drawing back the string on a bow. One did materialize in her hands along with an arrow. The bow and arrow were made of ice with delicate designs carved into them. The light caught on them and reflected off in a myriad of colors.

"Tear arrow!" Lekismon released the bow string. The arrow destroyed the two black fangs as it flew towards Jorogumon. The spider woman ducked and the arrow just barely missed her. It caught on the fabric of her kimono at the edge of the hole caused earlier by Jun's knife and tore it even further. There was something black protruding from the wound.

"Nee-chan," Daisuke tugged on Jun's shirt. "Where's V-mon? Can we make it to him?"

"Moon night kick!" Lekismon bent her knees and leapt. Jorogumon darted to the side and Lekismon hit the ground where she had been standing a moment before with a solid thud.

"Come on," Jun wrapped her arm around her brother's shoulders and ran across the room with him pressed to her side keeping as wide a berth as she could from the fighting.

"Binding web!" Jorogumon shouted. Lekismon jumped to the left and the sticky strands missed her hitting the beach tapestry instead. Jun knelt beside V-mon with Daisuke.

"Here he is," she held one of her brother's hands and placed it on V-mon's side.

"V-mon?" he shook the dragon. No response. The little boy kept his hand pressed to V-mon's side feeling the slow rise and fall of his breath. It was like he was just sleeping, and he had to wake up eventually. He had to.

"Tear arrow," Lekismon aimed for the black object stuck in Jorogumon's wound and fired. The spider woman gasped as the object was knocked from her injury and rolled across the ground.

"A gear?" Jun said a moment before the black gear disintegrated.

"Wh...what?" Jorogumon shook her head. She looked around taking note of the chaos that was her sitting room and the several strangers inhabiting it. The last couple hours were a red tinted blur of anger and pain. The strangers were all watching her cautiously. Lekismon was bouncing slightly on her feet ready to attack at the barest hint of hostility. "What have I done?" she recognized the lasting remnants of her attacks – the unconscious digimon and the webs. She blinked her many eyes pushing away the remaining fog that clouded her mind as well as the wetness pricking at the back of her eyes.

"You don't remember?" Lekismon questioned.

"S...some," Jorogumon pressed a hand to the side of her head. "I was weaving when that black gear crashed through my window and hit me. After that it becomes blurry. I remember being angry...so angry. I've never felt such rage before," her voice was troubled carrying notes of confusion and shame. Daisuke's heart thrummed with sympathy.

"But you're better now right? You won't attack us anymore," he questioned.

"Of course, I offer you all my sincerest apologies though I do not expect you to forgive me," Jorogumon replied.

"Nothing's unforgivable," Daisuke shook his head with a smile. Jorogumon genuinely regretted attacking them. That was enough for him.

"I knew you wouldn't attack us under normal circumstances. Clearly that gear made you act in a way you usually would not," Tentomon declared, a hint of pride in his voice. "I'll happily forgive you if you get this web off me."

"Yes, please," Patamon tried to flap his wings but had little success moving them from where he was stuck to the insect digimon, Takeru, and Yamato.

"You're too kind," Jorogumon nervously wrung together her front pair of hands as she walked towards them. She was aware that nearly all eyes in the room were on her. She had never liked being center of attention and disliked being suspect to suspicion even more, but she acknowledged that the group's suspicion of her was well justified and that made it all the worse. She had done a terrible thing.

Jorogumon started unwinding the silk web from around the four – the thread listened to her, losing its stickiness at her touch – and spooling the silk around one of her hands. She kept her gaze focused intently on the silk to avoid having to look at any of the many strangers. Lekismon watched the spider woman for some time before deciding that she was indeed no longer a threat. She relaxed her stance and was covered in light as she shrunk back into Lunamon.

"Lunamon!" Jun ran towards her and embraced the digimon. "You were amazing! I don't know what we would of done with out you."

"I dare not think of it. I'm just happy you, Daisuke, and everyone are okay," Lunamon held onto Jun tightly.

"What about Palmon? She still hasn't woken up," Mimi cried.

"Do...do you have an anti-venom?" Jou's gaze moved between Gomamon and Jorogumon. He wanted to adjust his glasses, which were sliding down his nose, but with one hand stuck to Sora's shoulder and the other trapped between Agumon and Gabumon he was not exactly in the position to do so.

"One isn't necessary," Jorogumon moved to free Jou and the others. "There are no lasting affects. They'll awaken on their own in around half an hour as healthy as they were before."

"That's a relief," Sora smiled softly.

"You may leave whenever it suits you. Now, when the affects of my venom wear off," thunder rolled outside, "or when this storm passes," she did not really want a large group of strangers – there were over a dozen of them! – spending an extended period of time in her home, but offering them shelter seemed the least she could do after the danger she had put them in while under the black gear's thrall.

"Getting out of the storm is why we came in here in the first place," Yamato pointed out.

"We can move on when the weather clears," Taichi nodded.

"There's a dirt footpath near your home. Do you know where it leads?" Koushiro asked Jorogumon.

"Nowhere," she finished freeing the last of the children and digimon. She moved back putting distance between herself and them. "Both directions lead to dead ends. No one uses that path."

"It's awfully well kept for a path that's never used," Sora commented.

"The plants refuse to grow on it."

Jorogumon walked towards the tapestry of the beach scene and started removing the web that had gotten stuck to it. She gently touched the hole that had been punched through the couple having a picnic. Tears welled in her eyes and she closed them. She took several deep breaths as she tried to gain control of her emotions. "Excuse me?" Jun walked towards Jorogumon with Lunamon floating at her side. The spider woman's gaze darted to her for a moment before focusing back on the tapestry. She cleared her throat before speaking.

"Y-yes?" she tried to make her voice sound normal but did not succeed. She hoped they would not comment.

"I believe this is yours," Jorogumon looked over to see Jun holding the yellow curtain in her arms.

"We found it stuck on a tree close to your home," Lunamon explained.

"It is mine. It's meant to hang in my weaving room," she replied. Jun held the curtain out to her and Jorogumon gratefully took it. "Thank you for returning it," she reverently ran her hands over the smooth material.

"You made it. You made everything in here," Jun stated.

"I did," Jorogumon confirmed even though it had not been a question.

"They're incredible," the girl smiled as she looked around the sitting room.

"Th-thank you," she ducked her head partially hiding it behind the folded curtain she was holding.

"I'm sorry some of your work was damaged during the fight," Jun turned her gaze back to Jorogumon. Jorogumon kept her's fixed on the ground.

"It's my own fault," she shook her head.

"It's the fault of that black gear," Lunamon corrected. Jorogumon tightened her grip on the curtain..

"Would you like me to bandage your side?" Jun asked.

"That isn't necessary," the spider woman pressed one of her hands to the wound. It didn't really hurt that much and she healed pretty quickly. She found the damage to her kimono more upsetting. She could salvage some of the fabric, maybe make a pillow out of it, but the tear couldn't be mended.

"I know. I don't make the offer because I feel I must. I make it because I want to," Jun replied.

"Al-alright," Jorogumon nodded.

"Great," Jun beamed. "My first-aid kit is in my backpack," she gestured to the bag she had left sitting on the ground next to Daisuke and V-mon.

Jun walked towards her bag glancing back to make sure Jorogumon was following. She was. The twelve year old sat down and pulled her backpack towards her. She took out her first-aid kit and set to work. She cleaned the wound with an antiseptic wipe, put some antibiotic ointment on it, then covered it with a bandage. As Jun did this she made conversation with Jorogumon by asking her about her weaving. "How do you get colors? You produce your own silk using your hair, which is white, but your works are most certainly not all white. Do you buy dyes or make your own?" Jun asked as she put away her first-aid kit.

"With magic," Daisuke chimed in.

"I make dyes though not with magic," her tone was warm with amusement. "I use plants. Mostly those I grow in my garden, but I also gather them from the forest."

"Is that hard? I've only ever used pre-made dyes," Jun asked.

"I've been making dyes for many decades the process is second nature, but it is time consuming."

They talked about how to make dyes for awhile before their conversation turned to other similar topics. Jun told Jorogumon about crocheting which the spider woman had no experience with. She got her crochet hook and worked with yarn out of her backpack. The twelve year old picked up where she had left off working on the bunny amigurumi and was showing Jorogumon how to do single crochet stitches when the digimon that had been knocked out started to wake up. First Palmon, then Piyomon, then Gomamon. "Get behind me, Daishuke! I won't let her hurt you!" and finally V-mon.

"You don't have to worry about that. Jorogumon's our friend now," Daisuke stated.

"She is?" the dragon blinked.

"A lot happened while you were knocked out," Lunamon nodded.

"You picked a very bad time to take a nap," the little boy teased.

"It wasn't exactly voluntary," V-mon huffed.

"But you're alright now?" Daisuke asked the concern clear in his voice.

"'Course I am," V-mon bumped his shoulder against Daisuke's.

"Look! It's stopped raining," Takeru called from where he was looking out the window. Jun turned her gaze to the window and saw that it had indeed stopped raining and the dark clouds were quickly clearing to reveal a bright blue sky.

"The storm rolled out just as quickly as it rolled in," Koushiro commented.

"Let's get going we've spent enough time sitting around here," Taichi stated. Jorogumon was surprised to find that the proclamation felt like a weight settling on her chest instead of one being lifted.

The group gathered all their belongings and put their shoes on. They stepped out of the house and stood on the porch along with Jorogumon. "Which way do we need to go to get out of this forest?" Jun asked.

"If you head in that direction you should reach the edge in a few hours. Any other direction you're looking at at least a day's travel," Jorogumon gestured slightly to the left.

"Thanks," Jun smiled.

"Thank you," the spider woman shook her head slightly. "I've rather enjoyed your company. It's been good talking to you."

"It has," Jun grinned. "Maybe we'll meet again someday." Jorogumon watched from her porch as the children and digimon walked away.

"Bye bye," Daisuke called as Jun waved. Jorogumon waved back.

 **Jorogumon: She's a digimon of my creation that's loosely based on the Japanese youkai Jorogumo and Arachne from classical mythology. She's a very shy and emotionally sensitive digimon that lives mostly in solitude. Despite her frightening appearance she is not a violent digimon in fact she hates fighting.**

 **I want to once again say thank you to everyone who has been reading this story and a special thanks to everyone who has reviewed, favorited, and/or followed. I really do appreciate it and hope you enjoyed this chapter :).**


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